What is Feline Cerebellar Hypoplasia?

Thanks so much for visiting this blog! I hope you find it useful. Prior to commenting, please read the bulleted notes at the end of this post — they may help answer questions. Thank you!

Feline cerebellar hypoplasia is a non-progressive, non-contagious neurological condition that results in walking and balance problems.

A kitten is born with “CH” when her cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls fine motor skills and coordination, is underdeveloped at birth.

A cerebellum’s growth can be stunted by a number of factors, most commonly if the mother contracted the feline panleukopenia virus while pregnant or if there was some sort of trauma to the kittens while they were in the womb.

Consequently, an underdeveloped cerebellum can result in underdeveloped or complicated mobility. CH cats are known for their “drunken sailor” walk, which is why they’re known endearingly as “wobbly cats.”

The severity of a kitten’s CH can vary greatly — even among litter mates. While some cats may only have a slightly impacted gait, others may have significant trouble getting around, if they’re able to walk at all. It’s important to remember that the cat isn’t sick, weak or hurt; she’s simply uncoordinated.

CH cats may also experience head tremors, the uncontrollable shaking of the cat’s head when she’s trying to focus. Again, some cats may experience mild cases, others may be more severe. (Consequently, some think CH cats may have vision issues. If you think this is an issue with your cat, speak to your vet.)

Unless a CH cat has other health issues, her life expectancy is the same as a cat’s without CH. Since the condition is non-progressive, it will never get worse — and in some cases, owners say that their cat became more capable over time.

One of the great things about CH cats is that they don’t seem to know that they’re any different from other cats. Even though they may think they’re normal, depending on the severity of their CH, they may be somewhat limited in ability and learn how to do things differently. For example, some CH cats don’t have the coordination to jump – so instead they become great climbers. Consequently, CH cat owners may find ways to help their cat become more capable. You can find more topic-specific help here.

Click this video to watch a fantastic video about a CH cat named Charley.

There isn’t a treatment for this condition; however, many owners will tell you that there doesn’t need to be one. They’ll say their CH kitties are some of the sweetest cats you’ll ever meet, and what they lack in coordination they make up in personality. You can read their stories here. And if you’re not convinced, here are 10 reasons why you should adopt a CH cat.

Since many people are still learning about this condition — and because some shelters don’t adopt out special needs animals, many kitties with CH are needlessly euthanized every year. While it’s not an extraordinarily common condition, cats with this condition do require a special owner who’s devoted to providing the best care possible for the cat.

I just got a kitten who has this. I thought it was learning to walk. But it hasn’t improve so I found out it has this disorder. Can you email me to tell me about your experience. My email is hanali2414@gmail.com. pls I can’t even get him to use the bathroom in the litter box poor thing probably has a server case if this

Two and a half years ago, we went on vacation and came across a pet shelter outside a pet store that had several pets for adoption. We saw a little kitten shaking in one of the cages. I was immediately drawn to her and her beautiful gold eyes. She was so sweet and looked so scared. Everytime a car drove by she would shake and jump, which I commented that she must be scared. That was when the workers said that the kitten had CH. We didn’t know anything about CH, but as we walked into the nearby store, I couldn’t stop looking at this sweet little kitten, and the kitten couldn’t stop watching us. It was then I started crying, my poor husband thought I lost it! I told him, I felt that no one woud adopt her because she wasn’t perfect. My heart broke for her. We were on vacation, certainly not a good time to adopt an animal, so my husband dismissed the idea for the day. However, I couldn’t stop thinking about that kitten. After several days, and more discussion, my husband agreed we should adopt her. The only problem was we didn’t know what agency it was. I called the store, who gave me the number to the agency, which gave me the number to the owner’s home (who took all special needs animals home to care for them). We made arrangments that very next weekend, and went out to pick her up. We had no clue how much CH affected her, but were willing to accept her and take care of her the way she needed. It’s been 2.5 years, and we have loved every moment of caring for this sweet cat. She was adopted as Missy, but wouldn’t answer to that name, only Kitty, which shortened to Kiki. She is a playful, sweet, attentive cat. She does very well day-to-day, but has her moments every now and again. She is certainly perfect in my eyes. 🙂

That was written beautifully.. It’s people like you that restore my faith in the human race when it really needs restored sometimes.. Thank you for saving Kiki, When someone else would look at her as imperfect, that’s what made her perfect for you.. Bravo

you melt my heart to hear of the love you have for Kiki, if only there were more people like you out there. far to many people are horrible to those that are different, I only just came upon a story on my fb page about a cat named Charlie Chower and then looked up CH and came upon this article, this one Charlie made me giggle, so sweet and then I read your story about you and Kiki, thank you for taking in a sweet little one with golden eyes, would love to see you post a photo of her on here. you and your husband are very special couple, TY. prayers for a long,enjoyable, playful life with Kiki.

Thats so cool!! We also call our CH cat KiKi!! We got her as a kitten and she wouldnt react to her name…so we had to call her KiKi just to get her to respond or even look our way…we couldnt figure out why she had so many little quirks like this…we considered that maybe she was deaf or partially blind and she always walked so strangely…not quite a wobble but more like the carpet was wet. Kiki is sooooo loving and precious…we adore her.

I know what you mean I have a CH cat as well. Some people were telling me to put her down but I couldn’t see it in my heart to do that. I felt as though if a human is born with Cerebral Palsy you’re not going to just kill the human because of their disorder. My cat angel was the only one that made it out of the whole entire litter. I didn’t really think that she was going to make it either the mother gave up on her. But I wasn’t about to give up if nature took her after I tried dropper feeding her then at least I knew I gave her a chance at life. It is now been a year and a half and she plays so well with the other normal cats. She is such a sweetheart. I’m glad that they are special people out there that will not turn their back on a CH cat. God bless you all that care for CH cats ❤ 🙂

Mary, the owner with Angel, how do you deal with her urinating? Was she able to learn to go in a certain place or do you have to clean her up daily? Please let me know if you’re still reading this blog, I’d really appreciate it. I have a 10 week old kitten with severe CH that cannot walk or even crawl very well, she just kind of swims around on the carpet mats that I’ve put down to get where she wants to be. Thanks, Giavanna.

My CH kitty is officially named Dart but i call her Kitty or Kiki for short. She’s fun, loving, goofy and brings a smile to my face every day! Thanks for sharing your story.

I adopted my girl from the local humane society. I had her for several days and knew she was different. The HS has just put her on the floor so they weren’t with her long enough to realize she was special. She’s the perfect cat for us and I’m thankful we found her.

What a wonderful heartwarming story! Yes I agree with some of the others that I commented it would be a much better world if they were more people like you. Thank you so much for opening your heart to the special girl !

Question, i just adopted a kitty who’s almost 3. Thrice my kitty, seems to walk fine, only with a lean at times almost like walking diagonal and on top of that leans into walls lots and instead of sitting alot of times he’ll just flop over, just drop on his side. Do you think he might have mild ch?

Hi Meghan,
Thanks for checking out my blog! Of course I have no way of really knowing if Thrice has CH, but it sounds like something is going on. If anything, it may be another kind of ataxia (you can read more about it here, I’m also posting another piece on different types of ataxia on the 29th.)
Have you discussed his behaviors with your vet? What does he think?
Hope you and Thrice are doing well!

What you are describing is what my cat did before her physical /massage therapy with me. Whatever it is called, I believe there is hope to undo it, but not through conventional veterinary care, which could not take the time to work individually without charging millions!

we live in the UK and have a cat who may have this .. we got her and her sister from a rescue when they were about 6 weeks old .. they came from someone who bred the mother cat every time and let the kittens just go to anyone that wouls hand over the cash .. someone rescued the whole litter at 4 weeks old .. they wouldnt let them have the mother cat .. and handed them into the rescue .. as Smarty grew it became apparent that she wasnt moving about like her sister was so we took her to our vet and they suspected she had a slipping knee cap and when she was old enough pinned it in place .. it soon became apparent tho that it hadnt cured the problem and we went back to the vets who said they thought she had brain damage from the mother cat being over bred …… they said they could refer her or scans etc to one of the vetinary universities but they thought all that would do is find out what the damage was to her brain and doubted that anythoing could be done about it .. so we decided that it wasnt worth the hassel and expense just to be told its this bit thats affected .. so cant be exactly sure this is her problem .. but shes definately very similar .. cant run or jump or climb .. but is quite happy to potter about in the garden which is well fenced ..she often kind of collapses for a few seconds and cant get to her feet straight away but then gets up and walks off like noithings happened .. we made her a little stair case that she can use if she needs to for getting onto the work top where shes fed.. more often tho she sits and shouts at ypou to lift her on lol .. shes now about 10 years old and one of the sweetest most laid back cats weve evewr had .. and is like a cuddly sleepy doormouse a lot of the time … sadly her sister got hit by a car outside where we live when she was about 9 months old .. since then ive always thought smartys condition is a blessing because it means we can keep her in and safe and would be wary of having another cat maybe unless it was another with similart problems to smarty who we could keep safe ….. smarty has her own facebook page too … https://www.facebook.com/pages/smarty-a-very-special-little-cat/130052137034746?ref=ts shes a very special happy littl;e cat indeed

Hi Amand, I have 4 cats out of a 7 kitten litter 2 years + old now with CH one is more in need of my help the other guys are just wobbly .Still in all i have 6 cats rescued a kitten tied up in placstic bags he turned out fine.However 6 cats and one broke dude over 3 years and never enough time to play with them all.I need forever homes for the special ones , I made i promise to them all not to abadone them . Any resources or direction would be helpful
Greg Dolphin

I recently looked into adopting a kitten from a local shelter with CH. I’m actually excited because I was born with cerebral palsy and feel that I would understand if anyone the struggles and things this kitten would go through. It’s no surprise kittens improve with age just as children do with therapy. I only wish people were more accepting of these special animals and people alike.

Hi Tiffany! I completely agree with you, and I’m so glad you’re interested in adopting a CH cat! I hope it works out, but if not, there are many other CH kitties up for adoption too: https://lifewithchcats.com/adoptable-ch-cats/

I will keep everyone updated as I get closer to adoption, just need my landlord to sign a paper saying I can have a cat and the shelter said I can take her home. Im having him sign it Friday, so excited. Im hoping I will have a new addition to my house by next week. My service dog will be sad she has to share me.

My kitty Naia has always walked funny. we took her to a vet to check out what was wrong with her. they said they didn’t know. After seeing the Charley video, I knew my kitty had CH. She may not be very sweet, but she is a beautiful cat. Thank you for allowing me easy access to this information and letting me put and worries of her condition to rest.. thanks to you, I did what my cats vet could not. I dream of becoming a veterinarian when I grow up, and thanks to this, I have a step up to my own vet.

I’m so happy I could help! And I’m glad to hear you want to become a veterinarian. That’s a wonderful profession! Perhaps you can share what you find on CH with your veterinarian; in my experience few ever see a CH cat, if they even know what it is. A great resource you can give to them are these handouts: http://bit.ly/LyBO1K Hope they’re helpful and thanks for reading!

Hello all,
So, we have three adult kitties and I wanted a new one and went to a vet where they had a litter. They originally had 9 kittens 4 were left, and 2 had the CH. Even though I was scared that he might have more severe health issues down the road (as I’d never heard of CH and even though the tech was saying no no, everything is fine it just affects the balance) I still felt sorry for the little guy and it broke my heart to know that he’d been passed up 7 times due to being wobbly.

We have him sequestered in the guest bathroom so all can adjust without direct contact. So my question is, when we get ready for all cats to meet, are there any special actions we should take to do so? The adult male is already hissing at the two adult females, but this is not new for him. The others are also declawed.

Another question I have is, b/c he does slight balance issues, would declawing be an issue? I’m being careful to let him do everything and not help him up. If he wants on the toilet, he’s making several tries up the carrier, then over to the toilet seat. I do worry slightly when he falls or hits is head pretty good on the wall if he could cause other brain damage, but I’m not rushing to him, I just watch to see how he is.

BTW – I chose to take him b/c of his “defect”…if felt everyone has something wrong with them and so why not? I can hear him playing up in the bathroom right now batting his ball around and it makes me smile. I am worried about how the other cats will react (a) b/c of teh CH and (b) b/c of the claws. Are these un-nessesary worries?

I totally understand your concerns, and I’m glad you’re looking into them! At the end of the day, of course it’s totally up to you to make a decision, but I hope everything below will be some food for thought.

I think you can likely introduce Charlie to the other cats the same way you introduced all of your other cats to one another — slowly and patiently 🙂 One thing to keep in mind that I learned when my two CHers met each other is that the other cats will likely not understand why your little one falls down. As mine did, they may interpret that as an “attack,” which was actually pretty adorable. However, you’d want to make sure that this doesn’t start Charlie’s relationship with everyone on the wrong foot. I’d say (obviously) supervise their first encounters to see what your older cats think of him. Some folks believe that their older cats take the younger wobblier ones under their wings, so to speak, because the older cats recognize that there’s something different with them.

As for declawing, I can understand why you would want to remove Charlie’s nails since your others are declawed; however, there’s a lot to consider on this issue. Many see that their CH cats use their claws on a daily basis not only for balance, but also to get around. For example, mine cannot jump, so instead they climb onto the couch, bed, etc. To declaw them would be to limit their worlds significantly.

Yet, some CHers do approve with age (they become more competent as they get exercise and build muscle mass/memory), so not all need their claws as much as others. Unfortunately, there’s no crystal ball to reveal how much and if your CHer will improve.

So I’d say give it a couple more days. Keep these things in the back of your head as you watch Charlie do his thing. I’m sure you’ll come to the right decision for him in time.

Good luck and I’d love it if you’d keep me posted! New CHers are always a blast!

Jessica, I have a special needs cat who might have CH — I have to take him to a vet in a city in another state as the vets in my small town don’t have the equipment or knowledge to diagnose his wobbliness as anything (he’s just been getting steroid shots, which help for a short time but are starting to not help). I found that he DOES use his claws to get around, even though he’s probably just a mild case — so PLEASE don’t declaw Charlie! There are claw caps that you can glue onto his claws (his front claws, and keep his back claws trimmed and filed so they’re not sharp). He still uses his claws to climb up his cat tower and to exercise/stretch, but the caps keep him from causing damage to the furniture or to me while we’re playing or while I’m trying to care for him.

Claw caps help even un-CH cats. Declawing is the removal of the first joint of their toes, not just the claws themselves, and can cause trauma to the cat, emotionally and physically (it changes how they walk) and can make their feet hurt all the time. Please do not declaw!

AH, yes, I could see where a declaw would be limiting. One of the 2 adult female cats we got from a couple who declawed all four paws b/c they had a baby. Of course, when the terrible two’s hit, they put the Bermese on crasiglist as the child was chasing her all the time and spent most of her days under a bed…sorry I digress. My point is, with her I’ve seen her miss when climbing or jumping from place to place over a greater distance b/c she doesn’t even have the back claws to help her.

Ironically, I’m allergic to cats and was told by my allergist to keep all cats off the bed (they never slept with us but we’d allow them on the bed at any other times), keep them out of the bedroom….PERIOD. So, I’d prefer him not climb with claws where he is allowed and am thinking about steps to place at the end of our couch.

In watching Charlie, I believe his CH is more on the milder side, and he’s already getting better at climbing the carrier to get to the toiler to get to me better when I stop in for a visit. That being said, I read about CH cats using steps to get to a couch and am thinking that those would be a good alternative for him to get to us rather than clawing/climbing. If we were to keep the back claws (I’d never personally declaw all four, just adopted one that it was already done to) would this be a good alternative? I know that subject is a touchy one even with normal cats, but for 12 yrs that’s what I’ve adopted and what I know….the “formal livingroom” furniture as well as my skin is grateful.

Thanks for the insight, this is a WHOLE NEW WORLD to me as a cat lover and I want to make his life as fun/safe as possible. :o)

I too am a cat lover. I have had much fine furniture over the years, and must say that declawing a cat is nothing more than barbaric animal cruelty. Their are many more options available to you if you do the research. Their are caps that can be put on your cats claws. Much like you have your nails done at the salon, you can do this at home. I hope some day people learn that Breaking an animals front feet and then expecting them to walk on them, is paramount to me breaking all of your toes and making you walk on them with No support. Now imagine the pain they are in for the sake of your furniture.

Please if you are going to be so concerned about your furniture, do not have a cat. Otherwise, be prepared to use Claw caps. Don`t be Cruel to another poor animal. As humans we are so Very cruel to animals when we do such things for OUR OWN happiness. DO THEY not DESERVE the VERY SAME…… Would you do this to your Human baby I doubt it.

Jessica,
I know, another comment. But this one is to say thank you, and YES, get steps!!! All of my cats (even my non-CH cats) use steps gratefully and gleefully, especially when they got older and their joints started hurting.

And another note — claw caps don’t have to be put on at a salon, although it’s less work for you if you get it done that way. You can purchase claw caps at pet stores and online (I get mine at Amazon), and they’re glued on like we glue on fake nails. They eventually come off as the cat sloughs the layers of the claws normally, and you’ll have to redo it after a little time (varies per cat), but I’ve gotten my cat to hold still well enough so I can do it quickly — just a quick trim of the claw so the point isn’t too long then sliding the cap over the claw and setting it properly. I can usually let Henry go immediately after so he can walk, and he gets a treat for behaving. 😉 Front claws only, and a package of claw caps can last for months. The big thing is getting the right size of caps, depending on the size of the cat!

I sure wish I had a way to demonstrate how I worked with a type of “physical therapy” with my CH kitten. My having had bodywork training and experience surely helped me understand her limitations, palpate her hypertoned musculature, and explore her range of motion, so that in doing the gentle exercises to strengthen her neurological system, I did not hurt her , nor overextend her. One of the first things I did is work with gentle paw reflexology and gentle , brief hip area massage , which reduced her spasticity, thus giving her more control over her movements. Her head bobble soon disappeared and never returned. The second step was strengthening her back legs by helping strengthen the “signals” back there going to her brain. I would put her on my chest, both of us lying down, and gently work with range of motion alternating with massage. When she got a little stronger, I would work with 3 or 4 little “assisted squats”. I believe a sensitive and trained massage therapist with some animal training could help others with this, but I also think merely reading about it and trying to do it may lead to complications. Just knowing it is possible to intervene and help the neuromuscular system change is a helpful concept.

Hi Marina. I am a nurse and just adopted a Maine Coon mix who I believe has CH- all of the symptoms match and he has no signs of contagious illness. I was wondering if you would consider sharing the therapy you used with me in more detail or if you can refer me to a site that has more info. Thanks!

I have a CH cat–Jack. He used to run and wipe out. Then I noticed as he got older he would run for a little distance and then lay down. And now he runs without wiping out. Although he still sometimes fails on a jump or falls off the couch. He seemed to figure out the balance to run on his own and I read on a website that they usually will figure out how to improve their balance to a certain degree. And I have to agree with the article above about them being sweet cats. Jack is really affectionate and loves to be cuddled.

I have 2 CH kitties that look just like Charley. I am a foster mom for a TNR group. However, I seem to end up with the ones that aren’t adoptable. “Betty & Bernie Bobblehead” came to me because their eyes were so infected. Then we realized they had a problem walking. They were diagnosed with CH. I thought they would have to be “put” down but our vet said no and was only concerned with their eyes. They are doing great now!!!!! They fit in with all the other “unadoptables”, the lame, the blind and even the ones with bad attitudes. All of my kitties love them! I am blessed to have these precious souls.

Agador Spartacus is our 5 month old CHitten and recently we’ve been having an issue with him pooping and peeing everywhere but the litter box. We try placing him in the box but he freaks out when we do. This is a new thing for him. We love.him so much but we are going crazy trying to figure out why! His usual spots are under the couch or dining room table. We changed the type of litter and he still isn’t okay with it. My father hasn’t caught onto this yet but once he does, we may have to get rid of him would break our hearts. Is this a CHitten thing or a kitten thing? Any thoughts, suggestions or comments are more than welcome

Hi Samantha!
I’m sorry to hear about your troubles! That can be rough. You said he just started going outside of the pan? Can you attribute any change to this change in behavior? Perhaps you changed the location of the pan? Perhaps it’s not as clean as he’d like? Perhaps the pan is too high for him, and it’s difficult for him to get into it?

It sounds like he associates his current pan with something unpleasant. Maybe something happened to him while he was in it at one point (maybe he heard a scary noise, was interrupted by a person/other pet, etc), which could make sense as to why he no longer wants to use it. Have you tried purchasing another type of pan for him to use? This may help reset his behavior, because odds are he’s not happy about going to the bathroom around the house. Cats are extremely clean animals and he’ll want to use the pan, instead of going all over your (and his!) home.

I’d also recommend speaking to your vet to make sure that there isn’t a medical condition involved. This can also likely be the case.

Agador Spartacus has got to be the BEST name for a cat I’ve ever heard. Your precious kitty is in good hands if he’s being raised by a fan of The Birdcage! Good luck with him. I’ve never had a cat with CH, but I’ve had many special needs cats in the past. Sometimes they can cause extra trouble and stress than a “normal” cat might, but in the end, they’re a joy!

My Sneaker Pattie who may possibly have mild CH, although I don’t know for sure, has a problem with going in the litter box sometimes. It’s mostly because she is small and not quite sure how to react when the Juniors–who are all about twice her size now, even though they’re still young–decide to try to play with her. She’s also had some trouble with bladder stones. Have your vet check for that or other problems, and treat them if they are present (Sneaker finally had to have surgery and is now on a special diet). In Sneaker’s case, a daily dose of Prozac keeps her anxiety level down, and supervision of the Juniors helps keep her from being targeted.

I have the most amazing cat ever and she has Cerebellar Hypoplasia. I was getting cat food for my cat at a pet store who were having a cat adoption day. all the cats were in crates expect for this one. She was just laying in the middle of the store looking around. I was automaticlly curious. I went up to the adoption rep and asked about the cat. She giggled at me and told me to go pet the cat. as soon as i was done petting her she started “walking” after me. She was flopping and falling all over. The people around started at this poor cat. I could hear the cruel things they were all saying about this sweet and beautiful black cat. I went up to the agency rep and asked her what the odds were of this cat being adopted. The rep explained to me that this 8 month old cat was born in the agency and no one has even taken a second look at her until me. At that moment i knew i had to take this special cat home. My amazing cat is named Von, and we have been together for over a year with my other cat Jade. At times i don’t know whos happier von is with us. Definitly a toss up between me, Jade, and Von

Hi Amanda. I just adopted a shelter kitten we estimated to be 10-12 weeks old. He is a Maine Coon mix and as I only saw him lying down in his cage He seemed fine. He had no signs of contagious illness. When he got home I immediately noticed how uncoordinated he was. My first thought was that he was much younger than we had guessed. The more I observed him the more I noticed symptoms fitting your description of mild CH- staggering walk, head tremors when concentrating, etc. Sometimes he seems to be trying to compensate by “marching” determinedly like a little soldier-totally adorable. That said, I called a friend who has been doing rescue for years and she told me she has only seen kittens with neuro symptoms die rapidly. Imagine my relief when I found your site! I will of course be taking him to the vet this week, but I just don’t see anything wrong with him that appears like any of the contagious diseases I have observed. He is one happy little guy- always purring madly and trying to follow us. He has us wrapped around his fuzzy paws. He even manages to get in and out of our tall litterboxes, although he falls out more often than not. I can’t get shallow boxes, as most of my other cats are enthusiastic litter flingers, so I hope putting something soft for him to land on in front will be ok. Bless you for having this blog, I was devastated at the thought of losing him. I read every bit of it and was relieved to find that he didn’t have symptoms of any of the other diseases that cause head tremors and staggering (your links). My husband now wants to name him Weebles 🙂 I’ll keep you posted after we visit the vet!

We caught 2 of a litter of 5 wild kittens born 9/12–one of them has CH. She is our baby out of our 7 house cats. In addition to CH, she grows very slowly–is half the size of our little boy kitten. We love her very much and is indeed specail in our eyes. Her brother loves her and plays with her. She found a forever home with us!

Have only put a name to my cats condition today after visiting a new vet for his annual health check and boosters. No one had ever mentioned it before. We took alfie on 4 years ago when my brother had to move abroad. No one ever mentioned the condition. He was presumed normal but a little odd. We thought he was very odd. Loving and cuddly yet wobbly with an almost constant tremor. He shakes when he eats, falls over on his side a lot and can’t land if dropped 2 feet onto the floor. It goes without saying that he cannot really jump. He has got a little worse recently. He is 10 now and cannot cope in a standard cat chalet at the kennels. He has to have a specially adapted pen with stairs to get up to his sleep7ng quarters. I transferred to a new practise after the sad death of our previous vet and the new guy put his finger on it straight away. Nice to know we werent imagining it. Not that it is a problem or affects quality of life. Vet told me to try and give him extra vit b. We now have 2 disabled cats as we already have a little boy who was blinded in a serious road accident. Funny old life.

So a little update on my CH cat named Von. My vet and decided to try something a little different to help Von move a little better. I’m putting a heating pad on vons back legs and hips two or three times a week for about 10 minutes at a time. Of course your can’t just leave the pad on there 10 minutes straight but taking a few breaks during the time period. Von loves it! she’s starting to stretch her legs and helping her put her legs back into a “normal” position. Has anyone heard of doing this before?

My Spike is 13 yrs old and has broken both fangs on one side from doing what I call Bambi on ice when he shakes his head. He has run into walls but pick himself up and goes about his way. The vet doesn’t think he can see very well but I beg to differ he sees very well and has learned how to play it up for mommy and daddy to help him.LOL. He does have what seems like a seizure once in a while if he greats very excited but I just talk to him in a soothing voice and it only last a couple of seconds. I figure he has maybe hit his head one to many times. I have found that a laser light has helped with his coordination.I would get another CH kitty again in a heartbeat.I look forward to the rests of Spikes life and enjoyment with him. He is a little momma’s boy and I love him dearly. I would say he is mild to moderate with his CH and I knew he had it when I got him. Lots of pee rags for when he won’t use the litterbox. He can be very stubborn at times as well but is very cuddly

I live in Tangier, Morocco……Recently someone left a box of kittens outside our building.
Children playing in the street would pick up the kittens and play with them. The roads are dangerous as cars drive fast. So I took the kittens to the Protection for Animals, (SPANA) they will find families to adopt the kittens.
While waiting for the vet I saw the helper open a cage and take out a Simease cat and put it down………..It was wobbling & couldn’t walk straight!
I asked what was wrong with it and was told it has brain damage. Never seen this before and knowing that it wouldn’t get adopted I asked the vet if I could adopt him.

I filled in the paper work and brought Lucky home 🙂 I have Two other cats I took from the streets and a gentle dog…….
Lucky is 3 months old and spent most of that life in a cage! I’ve had lucky only Three days and I love him with all my heart………..He’s special
I hoping with all the love from my family & me, also my other pets, Lucky will learn how to walk, play without falling so much!

A cat from the local shelter with CH has stolen my heart. Thank you for sharing your information as it make the decision to adopt easy. I think Tiggy and I will make great pals because I don’t have such great balance either (I have Chiari Malformation, a disorder of my human cerebellum). We will be able to lean on each for support!

I have a sweet boy that goes byWobbles, Wobert, or Wobby. At first he seemed fine, but within a couple of months after he was born I noticed his back legs splaying out. At first I thought it was just him learning to walk on the tile floors. Then he was having trouble eating and drinking. I would hold him in my lap to eat, but I was afraid he may drown fallng into the water dish. He has a couple of broken teeth from hitting the tile floor. At first I was afraid to take him to the vet b/c I was sure they would tell me to put him down. I did eventually take him and was told it was probably an inner ear problem. They never mentioned this condition. Well anyway, he is now about 7 years old. He has no problem pushing my other cats out of the way to get to the food dish now. I love my Wobby very much!

Your Wobbles sounds just like my Weebles! Had her since birth. She will be 12 in May. She has no idea she is “touched”. When I describe her condition, I just say “imagine a moose walking on a frozen lake”. Same thing as a tile floor.

She is in no pain, and as always found comfort in sleeping in boxes. I do think she is becoming deaf, but she will forever be taken care of!

She is medium hair and fully chocolate brown. Her tail curls back like a squirrel.

She loves to be brushed and when you do, her back leg thumps !

I’m glad there are a lot of people out there that cherish their special needs babies as I do.

on august 20,2012 me, my mom, and little brother were on our way to childrens hospital in little rock ar. and we stopped at a gas station well my little brother went around the side the building to use the restroom and came back around it holding the cutiest little kitten ever 🙂 i instantly feel in love with him. i noticed though something wasnt right, he would shake his head uncontrollably when he would eat or play with toys. i had noticed it would happen worse when he was trying to concentrate on doing something. i have yet to get enough money to take him to a vet but he is very healthy, and energetic. he absolutely loves to play, and he is one of the most loviest cats ive ever had. i havent had for to long but i have learnt his ways and how he has to do certain things. he is really no different then any other cat. his only real problem is that he also has seizures. but i love him no matter what!!!!!! he is my baby 🙂 and strangly as it may seem I have seperation syndrome from him whenever i am away from him i go crazy lol i guess its cause i also have a seizure disorder, and a mild case of terrets if i dont take my medications.

I recently took in a pregnant stray kitty who was abandoned with the intention of finding her and her kittens new homes. She had four kittens and one has CH, I call him Remmy. They are all in need of forever homes, but I want to find a really loving home for the this little wobbly guy. If anyone is interested he (and his siblings and momma) will be ready for a family in just a few weeks. All have their first set of shots. I’m reaching out to the cat-lovers community to help them, please spread the word and let me know at adoptafurball@yahoo.com. Thank you!!

We have two CH cats the Mom was a stray and gave birth in our garage. They are 13 years old this year and they are our special baby’s. There names are Tiny and Whobbles, we can’t not imagine life without them.

I have had a wobbler for the last 2 years. I adopted him from a high-kill shelter. The volunteers there told me about his condition. He is not too seriously affected – he can run and jump with no difficulty if not a little oddly, but he’s like a bull in a china shop. Sometimes he falls over when he sneezes, and when he comes to a stop his head shakes for a few seconds. He looks and acts a lot like Charley in the YouTube video. Very, very cute! He is the “personality cat” out of our four – fearless, stubborn, and king of the house. He is super affectionate, kneading and purring madly. I don’t consider him disabled at all, and I’m sure he has no idea that he is different than any other cat. A friend who is a veterinary neurologist told me he finds CH cats to be the most equanimous cats he has ever seen – calm, confident, laid back. I can certainly say that about my Sammy! I would adopt another CH cat in a heartbeat. I just love him to pieces! Thanks all of you who have adopted CH cats.

Rico is (we think, he’s a shelter adoptee) a bit over 9 months now. He has gotten much stronger, and his head only shakes when he is excited. His rear end though…well, for those of you old enough to remember positraction, it’s kind of like that. Or like a cartoon character trying to run, except his front feet get going and the rear end takes a while to figure it out- and then goes sideways. He still can’t truly jump, and I don’t think he ever will, but we bought jumbo King size comforters for our Queen bed so he can climb up. Our furniture suffers, but he is more than worth it. He still can’t walk in a straight line, so he “marches” like a soldier if he needs to go straight lol. He is spoiled ridiculously rotten.

Your description of your little fellah’s movements sounds a lot like my Sneaker Pattie… even to the falling over when she sneezes! I’ve noticed here lately that if I pick her up to put her on the counter for her breakfast (she eats on the counter because it’s easier to keep the Juniors from taking it away from her, and she gets medicine in her breakfast), her back legs will extend out behind her and it’s hard for her to get them back under her. And as in Laura’s reply, she runs sideways and it seems like her front and back ends don’t entirely work together; and when she is headed someplace and determined to get there, she does “march.” One other thing I’ve noticed is that Sneaker does not do well with cold weather. I don’t know if that’s part of her suspected condition or just another quirk she has.

My fiance and I have a CH cat that we love and spoil. Parker has unfortunately developed some health issues and the vet isn’t sure what is going on even though they are ruling out a UTI. They are suggesting more tests that we are having trouble affording. We also are trying to pay for a wedding, have just moved and simply cannot watch him as much as he needs. Does anyone have any ideas for adoption or no kill shelters? Please send any thoughts to mpellas@fastmail.fm

just found your blog – I volunteer with the local shelter so any info like this is important for me to add to my knowledge – thank you – I understand there is a product that can be applied to cats claws to make them ok – can’t scratch furniture or other animals but can avoid being declawed. this might be a good alternate for these wonderful kits who need their claws but have housemates.

Oh, please tell me what product that you are referring to that will protect my furniture from a cats claws yet not hurt the cat. I know about “caps” for their claws but I can’t even imagine trying to place them on a LIVE cat! Lol.

I understand not everyone can do what I am suggesting, but as a trained and experienced massage therapist/bodyworker, I worked daily with my cat as a wee little cerebellar kitten – first to reduce the muscular spasticity, also with a few DAILY assisted squats, some assisted and held and slowly released leg stretches, some essential massage along the spine and into the hips and thigh muscles. Within a few months my kitten was running like the wind- straight, not falling down, quite coordinated.

her head bobble was completely gone within weeks and remains gone for 5 years now. Clearly that was and is an indication of neuromuscular repatterning.

She also is fortunate to be in a house with a staircase (with treads), and going up and down this helped her develop neuromuscularly. We also played little chase games which she enjoyed and which helped her develop her different feline skills. We played little games to develop and work with “pouncing”.

It was important that she was very small and young when we began. She is now 5. Excepting the fact that she cannot squat to pee properly ; ( , (and even that is remedied with my form of physical therapy, although not as much as I would like), she runs and plays and is quite fast and never falls over. it isn’t just orthopedic strength, much of her healing was in regard to neuromuscular repatterning and discharge of spasticity.

Although it is 5 years hence, I witnessed her doing her first “leap” a couple months ago-
onto the bed- before that she would sort of fling herself at the mattress and rappel up. I also put the mattress sets on the floor and cat proofed the house against any “too high” of leaps….getting down is an issue too. One would never know she ever had this problem, really.

I foster for our Humane Society. Six weeks ago, I was given seven newborns and the mama to foster. Two of the kitties have very mild CH. However, one of the kitties has a more severe case. She runs/flips/goes as fast as possible…and it is adorable to see her try so hard. Eating is another case, however. She doesn’t initiate eating (at least that I can tell.) I am with her when she eats, steadying her shoulders so she can eat. When the Humane Society and I talked about her condition – it didn’t look promising for her because of the feeding problems. And so, my question is…Do you have some tips to help me help this little one eat on her own? Drinking is also a problem, for the same tremor problems. If these two issues can’t be resolved – I will be adopting her. She is too sweet. Thanks for your help.

Debbie,
When the kitten sits, is she more steady? If that’s the case, maybe she can drink from a fountain instead of a bowl — a fountain that sends the flow of water from the top part in a waterfall to drop into a bowl, which you can cover with a bit of mesh screen so the cat can access only a tiny bit of the bowl. I noticed that my furry wobbler loves to drink from the waterfall part of his fountain more than from bowls, and he often sits there to play with the falling water. (I know this is kind of late to help you as you posted in 2013, but it might help other people with CH cats having trouble drinking from bowls.

This may have been answered in another comment or link but, my parents have just recently saved a baby kitten who we just found out has CH. He has a lot of difficulty going to the bathroom as he loses his balance and falls over, making a mess of the floor and himself. Are there any tips, tricks or suggestions you may have that can help him out. The poor thing is only a few months old and struggles so much with his potty time.

My boyfriend had two CH cats before we met. We have Twitch, a 5 year old tabby, who has a more severe case of CH and Shiver, a 6 year old grey and white DSH who is almost so mildly affected that most people wouldn’t notice. Shiver is deaf, but does very well at hiding it. My boyfriend told me that if his cats didn’t like me, we wouldn’t still be together. 🙂

We decided about a month ago that we were ready for another kitten. We immediately went on the website for the group that he got Shiver through. Turns out they had three more CH kittens! We visited with all three and finally got picked by a cute little six month old orange and white kitten. We decided to name him Hobbes. He has a mild CH but does wobble when he walks. He is a wonderful addition to our little family. He plays with Shiver and cuddles with Twitch.

I would recommend to anyone questioning if they should get a CH cat, to do some research and then open your home and heart to a little bundle if CH fur. You won’t regret it!

We recently has a neutered, declawed 6-year old show up on our doorstep. The vet suspected Toxoplasmosis but after 3 weeks of antibiotics, she is still very unsteady on her feet. Not enough to stop her but she is a bit “strange.” She doesn’t know what to do with the toys I give her; she’ll play with ribbons for about a minute and then lose interest. She’s very solemn, but extremely affectionate and loves to bury her head in your hand. I take her back to the vet tomorrow for a follow-up visit. After watching her for almost a month and reading this site (and other research) I’m convinced she has CF.

My main concern is that she was front declawed and I don’t know how that is going to affect her ability to get around. Right now she’s confined to one room but after she gets the all clear from the vet, I want to introduce her to my other kitty.

Hi Nanci –
Thanks for commenting. Have you discussed the possibility of cerebellar hypoplasia with your vet? I’d recommend bringing it up, especially since there are some conditions that have similar characteristics as CH.

I can understand your concern about her being declawed, too. Perhaps you can find a few ways to help her get around your home without needing to climb (for example, maybe a step stool near your bed if she can’t jump up, etc.). You can find more ideas like that on this blog.

Hi my name is jhuana
i have 7, and 5 days old baby kittens. and the 2 kittens are have a damage of their feet. the other one so sad looking like its almost ready to separate the leg. and the other one is swollen leg and look like black and wide feet and not look good. they both have damage since the birth. my husband don’t want the 2 kittens because of their legs damage from birth.. the 5 kittens the all are look very fine since birth.. but, the 2 its so sad looking its not a perfect kittens. my husband said, that.. it will turn look bad when i keep them and egnor their legs.. they might be suffering when they grow up. what is the best thing to do for them?

That’s a great question – I haven’t had experience with a pregnant CHer. How severe do you think her CH is? Depending on that, she may need some help delivering, but that’s just a guess. Once she has her kittens, I’d recommend that you get her checked out so you’ll know for sure if it’s CH or something else.

Now I know that my adorable cat has CH- thanks for your very helpful infos. I use to wonder why she is uncoordinated, the vet doesnt tell me what’s wrong with her. Before, my cat only waddles, now she loses her balance more often and she falls. Will her condition worsen ? I love her so and she’s so affectionate.

Hi there! Thanks for commenting. CH doesn’t worsen, so if this is something that has developed over time, you should mention it to your vet. If your vet isn’t helpful, I’d recommend getting a second opinion elsewhere. Good luck!

Hi, I rescued a young cat from my dogs and noticed that it walks funny. I believe it is a female, perhaps 4-5 months old. She kind of sits like a kangaroo, using her front legs a lot. When she walks her back legs are crouched down like she’s going to go to the bathroom, but she doesn’t. She uses the litter box fine. When she stops, she kind of flops over on her side. Otherwise, seems very healthy. Clear eyes, ears and nose. She is extremely affectionate and sweet. I can’t keep this kitten as I already have 4 dogs and 2 other cats (and the dogs are aggressive towards cats). I don’t want to take to the shelter as they are euthanizing kittens very rapidly and since this one appears to be handicapped she wouldn’t have a chance. I am not sure where to turn.

Hi my is Kat, I found a kitten in the bushes on August 4, was only a week or two old. It couldn’t walk just kept falling down so I thought if was just hungry because it was so skinny and ribs was showing. I took it in the house and gave it food and water because I didn’t know what to do and it was the weekend. On Monday took it to the animal shelter in Riverside, Ca and they said it was to young and they would put it to sleep, so I left and said No! that’s okay I will just take it back home. The next day my daughter took it to the animal shelter in Moreno Valley, Ca and they too told my daughter that they will kill it so my daughter got really mad and walked out. We then took it to the Vet like 2 weeks later and then found out it was a little boy and they said he was to young to get shot and he look sick and wasn’t going to live so can we leave him there for a few hours so they can check him out and see what was wrong. We told them he falls down and all his little ducks don’t seem to be swimming in the same pond because he shakes, falls in his food, flips over, runs into everything and fall in his poop when he use the litter box. They then weighed him and he only weigh a 1lb, so we left him and went back 5hrs later to pick him up and they gave him IV and a shot that made him walk a little better..well it only lasted a day and then we notice he was back to worst. Now I’m very concerned of what is going on so I went online and started searching My Kitten Is Falling Down, My Kitten Can;t Walk and so on. Then there was a video of a cat on YouTube doing the same with the word Cerebellar Hypoplasia / CH so I watched the video and watched some more, couple of day later took him back to the vet and gave them the name of what I seen and read about and they didn’t know what I was talking about but told me I may need to really think about putting him down because he is a handicap kitten and is not going to make it. I said well I can;t do that because I read that there are cats with it and living a long happy life so can he get his shots now and they said no because he is sick and I sad no he’s not, he is just special then they said but we can do a test to see if he has worms, so they did that and they don’t see any round worms but they see tapeworms, I said well he don’t have fleas so they gave him the tapeworm shot and some round worm medicine in his mouth so I took him back home and now I’m going to take him to another vet after I find one who know about CH Cats & Kittens…His name is Angel and is sweet as can be my other cat that I been having for 9yrs Siaeena and my daughter cat been having 13yrs Remy they are not very happy because Angel has to have a little more attention because his special and wants to be carried. He now weighs 4lbs but the only thing is he stop using the litter box and got diarrhea, so can you suggest something for him on how to get him back to litter box and his diarrhea. I bought him something that he doesn’t have to climb in. Oh! I have to wash him off at least twice a day because he falls in his poop…He is my little Angel and I take him to work with me everyday so I can keep watch of him so he don’t have to smell like his poop..Thanks for reading my story and GOD BLESS..

Mira – short for Miracle was abandoned by her mother on the door step of a real estate office. After 4 years of caring for her, the office closed its doors and nobody wanted to be responsible for her. She was brought the friends for life forever farm, a sanctuary for senior and special needs companion animals. It proved to be too much for Mira though and she was terribly unhappy. I was vp for the organization at the time so I brought Mira home. She’s 10 years old now and probably the most severe case that anyone is caring for. She is completely blind and can not walk at all. She has to be hand fed and can not drink so I have to mix water into her food twice daily to make sure her kidneys continue to function. I take her outside once a day at the same time each day and she will pull herself along until she gets to the right spot and she will flip up her tail and urinate. Every other day whe will also go poo. She knows and understands her schedule. She stays in a playpen when she is not with me on my lap. She can not just be on her own in the house because she hurts herself when she flops around. But this is all that Mira has ever known and she is content and happy. Like the others, she purrs constantly! She is laying on my lap as I type this. I know most people don’t understand why I would go to the extreme of caring for such a needy animal, but then they’ve obviously never been loved by one! She is my heart…..

Thank you for your blog, it has given me a lot of comfort! We took in a kitten from my husband’s coworker who told us he has hip displasia but when I saw him walk I knew it was neuro. It’s actually fairly mild but I worried that he would be in pain or would start having seizures. Did you make any accommodations for your cat? He struggles to keep balance in the litter box and I guess a bigger box might help so he doesn’t have to perch quite as much. Any suggestions or do we just let him work things out for himself?

Hi Teresa,
My first recommendation would be to take the kitten to the vet just to make sure everything checks out. In terms of seizures, I have heard of a few CH cats who get them. If you’re concerned, I’d suggest speaking to your vet to find out if there are any warning signs or things to look for. That said, a majority of CH cats do not have seizures.
You also asked about accommodations made for our cats, and that’s a great question! In fact, this whole blog is built on well, life with a ch cat, and you’ll find tons of tips and ideas as you read through it. For specific ideas, scroll to the blue tag cloud on the right and pick the topic that matches your interest. For example, you mentioned litter box tips. You can find some here: https://lifewithchcats.com/tag/litter-box/
That said, all CH cats are different, so while some suggestions may work really well for you, you may discover other solutions that work even better.
Good luck!

My first comment got lost in the process of signing in to WordPress, so I’ll try again! First, thanks for this wonderful blog, Amanda.

We are currently fostering a very affectionate, fearless and totally enchanting 9-month old male (neutered) kitten named Josiah (we call him Jo Jo). He had an upper respiratory infection (URI), and our shelter (the Asheville Humane Society in Buncombe County, NC) likes to put those cats in foster homes to reduce their own stress and to keep them from spreading the infection. We had isolated Jo Jo in my two-room bathroom, which has been good for other foster animals, We were able to visit him frequently and observe his progress. We noticed that as he improved and started feeling better and moving around more, he also wobbled and his rear legs didn’t always react as they should.

When we took him back to the shelter for a med check up on his URI, we also told our foster care coordinator about his symptoms. She did not say anything to the medical staff who checked Jo Jo, but two separate groups both diagnosed him with CH. Kim, the coordinator, told us that Jo Jo needed to go back with us for another week just to make sure he was over his URI, and that after that he would go up for adoption with a medical waiver, so that potential adopters would know he was “differently wired.” She also told us that one of the shelter staff has a cat with CH, whom she named Forest (after Forest Gump!). Her feeling was that he would have no problem finding a forever home!

I already have my manageable limit of personal pets (I foster because the shelter supplies any food, meds, etc for us and because we enjoy helping the shelter, meeting new animals and saving lives), or I would take Jo Jo in a heartbeat. My brother has also fallen in love with him but has his several cats of his own and can’t take another one.

I feel confident that Jo Jo will find a home. His affectionate nature, good looks and charming personality are so apparent. I did tell the shelter that if they had problems finding him a permanent home, we would be happy to take him on long-term foster.

I intend to give the shelter your blogsite so they can pass the information along to anyone who adopts Jo Jo so they will have a support community and avail themselves of the knowledge contained here

Hi Jackie,
Thanks for reaching out and sharing about Jo Jo! I’m so glad to hear everyone has been so kind and positive about his future 🙂 Yes, please do pass along my blog, and feel free to reach out if there’s anything you’d like to chat about.
Best,
Amanda

Hi, Amanda! Thanks for your reply. Oddly enough, Jo Jo’s wobbliness and seeming lack of back leg strength went away a day after we stopped his antibiotics! Is it possible that his CH may be attached to a reaction to doxycycline? He is still cuddly & talkative, still wants to jump in my arms every chance he gets. Do you know anything about this? (The shelter asked us if we could keep him a few more days because their medical department was booked solid for checkups today (when we were supposed to return him). I told our foster coordinator what a hardship it would be for us — NOT! It will not be easy to take him back to go up for adoption, but we have as many animals as we can afford, and he deserves a home with lots and lots of attention. But we’ll keep him as long as we can cause he is such a joy.

I have a CH kitten, her name is Gypsy. I adopted her from a family member. I did not think anything was wrong with her, only that was just trying to adapt to her new surroundings. Until my sister looked up her condition, and found that she had all the symptoms of CH. I think we love her even more, because she has the most crazy personality ever 🙂

I adopted a rescued cat with CH a little over a year ago. I debated about doing so, because we have 14 stairs. However, Jiggles stole our hearts the moment we saw his video on line. I decided to let him do whatever he wanted, since using a baby gate did not stop him. He is able to scale the stairs when he feels like it by pulling himself up, though just kind of flings himself when he comes down , so I make sure to keep a cushioned pad at the bottom of the stairs, as well as a pillow propped against the landing’s baseboard. He can even climb up onto my rather high mattress by using his claws in the side of it, and generally loves to curl up in my bed at night, so I carry him downstairs in the morning. He is so very affectionate and looks at me with total love in his eyes. He falls a lot and struggles with diarrhea sometimes, but that has been made much better with high quality carrageeenan free, grain free canned food, and a product called Gentle Digest in he mornings. These are probiotic capsules–just open one up and sprinkle. He has gained weight and his coat has improved. I also found him a special feeding dish that has a non skid rubber base that is really wide, so that he can step on it while he eats, for better traction, and we took a very large, deep litter pan and had someone cut out a larger opening in the front for easier access. He still has trouble keeping his balance in there, and will sometimes fall into his own poop and smear it around. There is definitely a lot of accomodating on our part, but he is worth it, and I love him dearly. He totally gets along with our other rescue cat and small dog–they cuddle together all the time. The dog had been afraid of our old cat, who used to sneak up on him, but these two cats are so gentle, sweet and non threatening, he has become really fond of them.

I rescued our Ruby from our local RSPCA shelter. Very very nervous, born in a shed, she had three or four siblings. Having watched her over time, she is about 18 weeks old and adorable, I have come to the conclusion that she might have CH. Before I knew about CH I spoke to my vet who checked her over vigorously and said she’s healthy, but the description on here matches her perfectly. As long as she is happy, playing,eating,drinking and toileting, I am pleased as punch she is part of our family. Lovely to read other stories.

Hi Julie, I just adopted a CH kitten who is 10 weeks old. She’s doing great and loves to play. She also had a tramatic early life, she was found under a tree hardly living. She was nursed back to life and is doing great. I’m really only worried about her falling over and hurting herself since she’s so small. Does that worry you or do you think they are perfectly okay?

Hi Amanda,
I think that’s something we all worry about with our CHers, regardless of age, so you’re not alone! I have a few suggestions on the blog that may help. I know many CH cat parents also figure out ways to make life easier for their cats along the way. This list of posts may help: https://lifewithchcats.com/tag/around-the-house/

Hi Amanda ! I do worry Ruby will hurt herself, but having watched some posted videos on fb, she’s not as bad as some of the ch cats on there. Its reassurring to know there’s advice out there as the RSPCA’s response was disappointing, having taken my £105 they weren’t interested in helping me understand Ruby’s condition and even hinted that there was nothing wrong when she left the shelter. In hind sight, I think they mistook ch for nervousness. Having said all that, Ruby is blooming and we all love her to bits 🙂

Just wanted to thank you for your excellent advice. I rescued three little girls from a litter of 5 found in a squat. Mum was pregnant again so the shelter wanted to rehome them quickly. I originally took two kits who both seemed fine. I agreed to take the third a week later – she arrived skinny, shaky and weak and would not take any solid food. Although I have had many cats over the years I had never heard of CH and thought her wobbly gait and shaking was due to her frail state. After four days of hand feeding and lots of cuddles she became stronger and more confident and began playing with her siblings – this is when I realised that the constant falling down was not because she was undernourished but something more serious. I googled for various causes and found your blog – this is just how she is!! Actually I was relieved as at least this is not life threatening or infectious to the others. I had it confirmed at the vets today and I see no problems going forward she will get all the love and care she needs. Thanks again to all your contributors as I know she will have a happy life 🙂

Hi I have a kitten that is about 2 months old and has this disorder it is very mild though she gets around fine although sometimes falls over. She literally is the sweetest cat ive ever owned but unfortunately I cant keep her I need to find her a home asap!! someone please help.me find a loving home.for.this kitten!! I live in shippensburg pa.. call or txt me 7176580852

I just (today) adopted a 2 yr old female with CH. Her name is Tumbles. The previous owners made some life changes that wld no longer allow them to keep Tumbles. I was worried that the cat would be euthanized if I didnt adopt her because of her age and “disability”. I work in the medical field and therefor im already sympathetic to humans who have special needs. In all of my life I never knew that an animal could develop a disability that is the human equivalent of CP. And being in the field, reaching the age of 33, meeting people with different stages of the disability, i know this can range from mild to severe. I believe Tumbles to have a more moderate level of CH, but I swear this is the most adorable thing I have ever seen. The previous owner said Tumbles probably wouldnt live but another couple of months and I was determined to make her last “few” months happy ones. Now after reading this I am ecstatic that its a great possibilty that Ill have lots more years with her. Ten minutes into bringing her home, we were laying in the floor together cuddling. Im in love! It is so heartbreaking to watch her walk and fall down knowing that there isnt anything I can do to make it go away, but it also fills my heart with so much joy at the same time, because I know that her life has never been easy and she keeps on trucking. She falls down and gets back up to do it all over again. I ❤ Tumbles!

Hello! I’m so happy I found this blog! I am picking up our Cerebellar Hypoplasia kitty on Thursday and would love to have any advise on how best to care for our newest family member! They estimate she’s around 6 months old. Her tremor is slight in her head but more noticible in her walk. Please let me know your thoughts and suggestions! Thanks! Kat

Hi Kat!
Congrats on your new family member! We’re excited to hear more about her. This blog is FULL of tips and tricks that can help out your little one. I recommend starting here: https://lifewithchcats.com/ch-topics-tips/ and then clicking on the tags on the right side of the blog to learn more about specifics. Good luck!

I have a cat that looks like a Maine Coon. She was a stray kitten that moved in with us and is now about 1.5 years old. She is on the small side but seems healthy with one exception. when she rolls over on the bed to play, her hind legs begin to move around wildly and she doesn’t seem to have control over them. Once she realizes this is happening, she will grab the hind legs, lick them and then everything seems to be ok. She doesn’t jump as well as our other cat, but is great at climbing (up, down, sideways, you name it…) Could this be a form of CH?

Hi there. I have seen that all these cats are the similar breed. My kitten is very wobbly and he does look like his drunk (most of my friends have picked up on it too) I thought he may of had something wrong with his leg or hips. I was feeling very worried, I couldn’t bare to loose him as his adorable and a very effectionate kitten. I put into google exactly what he does and how he walk and this was the first thing that was on the page. I watched the video of charley. My cat walks just like charley and they look like the same breed too. I feel a bit more happier knowing that my cat will be fine but to be on the safe side I think I should just go to the vet to get him all checked out and to confirm that he does have CH, thank u for all the information that is on this website. It’s helped me a lot.

My neice found a feral kitten and took him home, he was only about 3 to 4 weeks old. After about a week of feeding him kitten milk etc. he started to come around and get somewhat friendly. He was always very wobbly on his feet but we thought it was due to him being so young. Once he turned about 12 to 14 weeks it was obvious something was wrong. She took him to the Vet and the Vet diagnosed him with Cerebell Hyperplasia. She decided she no longer wanted him so she took him to a Shelter. As soon as I found out and against my husband’s protests I called the shelter and went in and brought him home. I knew they would put him to sleep because their way of thinking is “there are so many healthy cats out there that need homes they don’t want to save those that are “less than perfect”. Let me tell you it was the best thing I have ever done. The funny thing is as much as I love him he only just likes me but he loves my husband and my husband loves him. He was a blessing. I have always had German Sheppard’s and from the time he was a kitten he loved my dogs and they love him. We have 2 acres in the country and he goes on walks with the dogs every day. If anyone is thinking of adopting a CH cat they shouldn’t hesitate. They do learn to climb but they never go on your kitchen counters or places whear you might otherwise not want the cat to be. I brought Felix (that’s his name) home 17 years ago and never regretted it for a minute. If you have any doubts about adopting a CH cat don’t hesitate you will not be disappointed. Felix is 17 and still healthy, he does sleep most of the day away now but I wouldn’t trade him for anything. I hope to have at least another 5 or 6 years with him.

Hi! My partner and I just adopted a 5 month old CH kitten. He is classified as severe. We are looking for a harness that we can help him walk with to keep strength in his back legs that might eventually be attached to a walker to help him be more mobile on his own. We’ve been doing some searching, but was curious if anyone had any harness suggestions. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks so much! ~Rachael and Sam

If a cat has this condition could it not show up till later on??? My cat is 4 and he seems to have this condition but was fine prior to this. The only thing that showed up since we adopted him from a shelter as a kitten was trembling eyes or eyes shaking when looking at things. Also one pupils as and is larger then the other one. Thanks for any information.

I believe we adopted a CH cat just recently. Misty is a Snow Shoe female that we adopted at 7 1/2 months. The day we brought her home, as she was exploring her new home, she started to walk hunched over with that tell tale gait and kept flopping over. Took her to the vet the next day, everything checked out fine. Then we noticed a pattern of excitement and trouble with walking and balance. Return response to normal behavior was less than 5 minutes. Does this sound like a mild case of CH to you?

Hi Sue, CH doesn’t come and go, so there may be something else going on here. I’d say document her behavior (when she behaves like that, how, etc.) and share it with your vet the next time you go in. Your vet would be the best one to figure out what’s going on. Good luck!

I have had my sweet Ellie for almost 2 years now. There is an abandoned farmhouse across from my parents and my mom goes over there everyday and feeds the cat they left behind (he’s very wild) and before to long came another cat. She was pregnant and had the litter and Ellie was part of this litter. My mom thought she was hurt at first, but after a few days, she knew something wasn’t right (Ellie is a severe case) and scooped her up and asked if I would take her (I was hesitant at first, but the minute I saw her, I had to have her), her sister has a mild case and my mom was able to catch her and find her a home with a lady that also had another cat with CH. The last kitten wasn’t affected, but my mom was able to catch the 3rd kitten and the momma cat and at least take them to the vet to get fixed. They’re not her cats, but she goes over there twice a day to feed them and make sure they’re ok no matter what the weather is (she has 6 cats of her own and can’t take anymore). Any way, this little girl is my baby and has brought me so much happiness. She’s loyal and loving, and though it takes her a bit, she follows me from room to room “talking” to me. If I’m in the garage, I can here her meowing for me (she is NEVER allowed outside). I also have a normal cat (Sir) and though he is grumpy, he always looking out for Ellie. Sometimes with her falls, I don’t know how she doesn’t get hurt. She’s a tiny one, but beautiful with huge eyes (she has problems focusing). And her treats, she loves her treats, she gets those little legs going, but gets so excited and can’t get anywhere lol. Though the ones with severe CH require a lot more attention, the reward is sooo worth it. And I saw a post earlier about declawing, and all I can say is PLEASE don’t… These babies need their claws for quality of life issues.. They rely on them to walk, climb and catch themselves when they fall. And I love your blog!!!!

I do allow Tumbles outside. Supervised only of course. Im terrified she’ll get to the street. But we have developed some simple commands that she responds very well to. If she travels too far “Hey!” typically stops her in her tracks and heads her back in my direction. Her name and a tap on my thigh will have her follow me one way. And if all else fails i always carry a bag of catnip treats. She does not refuse them. She would powerglide against four lawns for catnip.

Absolutely do not declaw them. I still have Tumbles after adopting her back in november and wldnt change her for the world. I love it when she follows me around. And i love when she talks to me. She is also a stickler for her treats. Her favorite is catnip. And Tumbles has come around quite a lot in the past 6 months. Couldnt imagine life without her.

This is a brief update on Jo-Jo, who may or may not have CH. We had been fostering him for our animal shelter while he had an upper respiratory infection. When he finished his antibiotics, his wobbling decreased significantly. He is still clumsy, often misses an intended landing place and his back legs splay outwards a little — so I think he may only have a mild form of CH. Two different medical staff members diagnosed it at the shelter, so I think that is what he has.
Anyway — Jo Jo is ours! We talked and talked and talked and finally realized we could not give him up. The shelter was happy to let us adopt him and, when we took him to our vet for his free wellness checkup (a perk from the shelter for adoptions), Dr. P fell in love with him and told us, “He’s a keeper.” Jo Jo is so incredibly affectionate, loves to play and loves our other cats. We are so glad we decided we had room for one more. Thanks again for your great blog.

My cat had kittens and one was born this way. She flops over and wobbles when she walks. I thought she had something that would require her to be euthanized. Now i have decided to keep her because of the information you shared. Thank you. She goes to the vet tomorrow for first check up and shots

We adopted Twitch when he was a kitten from our local animal shelter, after doing a little research on his condition. His case was more severe, but we read that they adapt and require just a bit more care (at least when young). He is now going on 4 years old and is such a special guy…we have no regrets whatsoever. He is incredibly happy and affectionate. The only thing I do is pile up his wet food in the morning (on a soft flat surface)….other than that, he is completely independent. There are lots of great videos on YouTube if you’re considering adopting a CH cat…..and you will not regret it.

Today, we buried Huey, our CH cat. We were lucky to have had him for nearly 13 years. Huey had a great life, and handled every challenging situation with intelligence and aplomb. We furnished our home with ramps and steps to make nearly every surface accessible to him, and he got around. Nothing stopped Huey.

On days when his legs didn’t cooperate, Huey took it all in stride, and proceeded slowly and with care. He was an indoor-outdoor cat, and was a great mouser, He marshaled his energy to pounce like any other cat might, with telling success.

Always friendly,he was loved by our neighbors who often found him sunning himself on their decks. One who saw us preparing his final resting place commented “Huey always showed great courage and dignity”, and he did.

I am glad to know that you are giving a loving home to some wonderful little creatures with special challenges, and perhaps special gifts.

What a wonderful site!! We are making arrangements to adopt a CH kitten, so it is really lovely to get some input from other CH owners! My daughter is a sickly child who has home-schooled, so we feel that we can give the new baby the time she needs. We already have one disabled cat. so we are going to have a pretty odd menagerie quite soon 🙂

I had a CD cat which I just lost. He was the greatest cat i ever had. The thing is he also had other things wrong with him. but he took it in stride. His fround legs were deformed and short so he looked like a dragster going down the race track. I adopted him about a year and a half a go and he had really come a long way from when i got him. He was about 2 years old when i brought him home and he did not even know how to eat by himself. I had to hand feed him. He had so much wrong with him that we did not know about untill just recently when he developed stones or crystals. Even all his insides were all deformed. The vets did every thing they could to save him but he lost the battle on Good Friday. He passed on his own and i miss him so very much. He very lovable and it was like he know i was there to help him servive. I will never forget him and will always miss him very much.

I adopted my cat, Cosette, from my barn. We take in cats from shelters that are on the euthanasia list. I love her very much and have had her for almost 2 years. She shows all the signs of CH but has never been diagnosed. She’s mildly wobbly, has no coordination to jump and has head tremors on occasion. What throws me off is her fecal incontinence, she just seems to have no control. Is this a symptom of CH or could she have something else?

Hey! Its Tumbles mommy! So i just wanted to update everyone. We have hit the 6 month mark of her coming to live with us. I have been able to have her vetted. The vet reccommended botox injections. To me that idea is just obsurd. I am not going to put Tumbles through something so temporary.

He did say that she does have a more moderate form of CH but let me tell you what 6 months has taught me. The capacity of one living being to love another, even in sickness. If you remember my story we were supposed to foster Tumbles until we found her a home or until she lived out her last “few” months. I didnt necessarily want a cat.

Tumbles is no different than one of my children. Seriously. Losing her would devastate me on the same level. She has learned to climb the stairs, which scares the bejeezus out of me because she cannot come down them and she tends to be impatient. She sleeps in her little kitty bed right next to me and if she wakes up before me in the morning i MUST get out of bed and place her in the living room window to bird and squirrel watch. I had to switch hours at work. I couldnt work third shift any longer. The kids got so angry because my Tumbles refused to sleep. She would meow all night long. All through the house. While i was at work. I didnt actually believe that but when I would come in at 530am Tumbles would be right at the front door and with such an attitude! Also if i get out of bed in the middle of the night to use the restroom, i kid you not as soon as my feet hit the stairway the meowing begins. If i step outside away from her meow meow meow.

I think its adorable. The kids think its annoying. Myself and one of my daughters are permitted to “cuddle” Tumbles. The other children can pet her but she doesnt allow them to actually cuddle her or hold her. She is such a sassy little diva but she fits right in with my daughters! I thank God everyday for bringing me Tumbles.

I love it when people are like “I sure would like to have your cat.” “you should ley me have your cat.” or my favorite is when people who arent even cat people fall in love with her. My response is, ‘Not on your life!’

I am in the process of adopting a kitten with mild CH. He will be coming home in a few weeks after he gets fixed. I am in the process of getting some high sided litter boxes, but I am wondering if there is anything else I should do to prepare. His mobility is pretty good, He runs and jumps, but not very high. I know he is also a climber, so most of the places he would want to go are climbable. Any suggestions would be welcome!

I have a kitten that is about 6 months old now that I am fostering. For the first few months he had been fine, but now he seems to be having the symptoms of ch. He’s very wobbly, doesn’t like to jump, and walks for a min then his back end just kind of sits and when he gets back up he walks sideways for a few. Could he possibly have ch? Also, I know his one eye is kind of cloudy and the 2nd eyelid doesn’t always go back to its normal position.

I don’t like cats at all, but while I was on a weeklong elk hunt about 10 years ago, my wife got two kittens from the same litter for our kids. One of them is deaf and has CH, and he is the funniest, sweetest cat I’ve every seen. He is oblivious to almost everything around him, is always underfoot, and meows loudly several times a day even though he’s totally deaf. He marches around the house like he’s on a mission, and falls over many times a day. He’s like a ragdoll most of the time, and is very un-catlike, which makes him my all-time favorite cat. If we ever get another cat, I want one like him, with CH. They make better pets than regular cats!

Hi. My name is Beth. And I adopted a cat with CH. Her near is Tinkerbelle. We were looking for another cat to keep my boy cat company. About 5 years ago I went to the humane society. Went to the cat room. I saw so many cats there, but there was this calico kitty on the floor meowing at me. Like she was saying. Hi pet me! She was so cute. So I started to pet her. I fell in love with this cat. I walked away so I can look at other cats. Then all of a sudden she starts wobbling toward me. At first, I thought she might of been on some medication or something. Well my friend went to ask someone what was wrong with her. My friend came back and told me that she has the wobbles, CH. Never her of it. Well the place was about to close. I fell in love with her, but I was not sure how my other cat would react and I had no idea what CH was. My friend told me lets do some research. We did. Well I had to work the next day. My friend called me at work and told me to come out. I did. Looked in the car and saw case in the front seat. He said “open it”. Tinkerbells head popped out. I picked her up in my arms and started to kiss her. That was one of the best days of my life. She is 9 1/2 now and the best cat I’ve ever owned. CH cats are the best cats.

What a lovely blog. My kitten who is one of four has been diagnosed with ch. So many of my frienfs think it will be kinfer yo put him to sleep. No way, he has just as fun ad his 3 btothers and sisters. At 4 weeks he is already developing a lovely petsonality. He was gping to be adopted but theysaid no. Their loss totally.
Denise

Hi all, I adopted my little Leo almost two years ago from Washington Humane Society in DC. This blog was–and continues to be– super helpful in helping both of us adjust to various challenges. I wanted to share Leo’s youtube debut, created by a friend of mine. It’s a story of resilience, which I think is the constant theme of CH cats. I love him to bits! Enjoy, and feel free to share. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w73q1JGLOs&feature=youtu.be

my question is …does this progress with age? we have a kitty that we adopted and was “normal” until about 4 weeks ago (now 6 mos) he started having similar symptoms of that of Charley. seems to faint or fall when using the litter box, walks uncoordinated, difficutly jumping at times, shaking in his front paws at times and overall uncoordinated gait. we took him to the vet and they gave him steroids and an antibiotic and only after two doses he was back to the normal “kitty” we knew. Could this be the same as what Charlie was diagnosed with?

My mom found a 6 to 8 week old stray kitten at her work, the mother has shunned it and my mom fell in love with her. She looks like a bobble head so we have named her Bobber. We are trying to give her a good home and I’m looking up ways to help her possibly gain a little bit of control in her neck b/c i’m scared if out 5 month old puppies try to play with her they will break her neck. Is there anything I can do to help her. I know she can’t eat/drink out of something that’s too high because she can’t get her head in and out of the bowl. I would like to give her the best forever home here I can give her.

I am the human mommy of a 4 week old calico kitty we call Hope. I am 99% sure she has ch because her hind legs looks like she has cerebral palsy. She has an amazing spirit, she is so lovable and she tries so hard to keep up with her 3 other siblings. I think her condition is from being born last… 18 hours after her last brother. I have been told that after 8 hours of labor the risk of problems increase. She is such a joy and I say adopt a special needs pet

Our cat Doughnut was a mangled mess when he was born, but over a 3 month period his back legs straightened and he learnt to walk and now 2 years down the line he can even jump onto the bed. We have never treated him any differently from our 9 other cats, so if he can’t do something he doesn’t do it unless he finds his own way.

Jan, I don’t need your opinion two years LATER. And for your information we’re having trouble conceiving so thank you oh so much for being rediculous enough to ask “Would you do this to your Human baby I doubt it.” Go give your not so helpful opinions to someone else.

It’s as I thought. I’m a paramedic, I’ve seen people with cerebellar hypoplasia, although it’s usually not an emergency. I also work for the Trauma 1 Unit. I’ve seen things there that I never see on the ambulance. Like someone whose surgical graft tore loose and caused havov for him.

We have a CH cat named Deuce, he is great. He is ALWAYS hungry even after he just ate. Our other cats have normal appetites and go back a number of times to finish, deuce will eat it all like a dog and then beg for more. I was wondering if anyone else has this issue with their CH kitty or if my guy is just a gluten?

Just adopted 2 CH kittens from a local rescue. They are an absolute riot! The female’s symptoms are a little more severe than her brother, but they are such happy, funny little babies. I am absolutely in LOVE, and have been doing a TON of reading about CH in order to give them the best quality of life. 😀 Thank you for creating this web page, it has been a god send!

Hello! We have decided to adopt a little kitty with CH and his brother so that they can stay together (of course we absolutely love them too). They are about 9 weeks old and we will be bringing them home to a “my way or the highway” kind of bunny. I have read that once rabbits establish their territory they will begin to warm up to cats (who indoors, generally won’t hunt their bunny roommate). I am wondering if you have any advice on how we should go about introducing them?

I have a permanent foster kitty named Lexi. after working in an animal shelter, a no kill one, I found this little girl and had to have her. She is so sweet and after getting her home she has made her way and seems to me to be gaining much better coordination after walking on our carpets and not laying there on a hammock and trying to feed herself with all the other cats around. She is a loving and funny cat and is so sweet. She amazes me each day with her no nonsense, I can laugh at myself attitude. We are so blessed with this little girl. she is between 3-4 years old and can do most anything she sets her little head to do. I have found her trying to climb on the sofa and it just tickles me that we can assist this beautiful creature to have a better life. She adores my other cat Ash and he knows that if he sticks with her he gets more good food!! I have 5 other cats and other then them either avoiding her or a bit of hissing she is well received. I am so grateful this doll has ended up with me! I so adore her and am glad that she has this opportunity to become her best self! I would love to start a blog of her but don’t know how but I will learn and everyone will see how this cat can beat the odds of her affliction! We can all take advise from her

Apparently I have a CH kitten. The property we live at here in Oregon had cats (ferals I found out after a few years) and I am working at trapping and sterilizing them. But since I don’t have them ALL fixed, every year we get kittens. Got a batch this year and it was a bad one. Lost most of them to some kind of URI. Anyway, tended to the kittens in their cage one night. All was fine. They were climbing and running around and batting at me as I cleaned out the potty box. Next morning I found that one of them had went down and was not getting back up. Since she’d been really scratching at her ear, I thought it was an ear infection. Went to the vet after she did not get better after ear meds. Our vet said she most likely had a neurological disorder which I THOUGHT was strange since this happened when she was 6-7 weeks old. But doing some reading on it, I guess it CAN happen that late in life for them. Kachiri will be our “dizzy baby” and she’ll be happy and safe IN our home. We started building custom Kitty Kastles out of old styled entertainment centers. She will have one built for her for when we are away from home shopping, or at night when we can’t be up and watching to make sure she’s safe

My cat has had 4 kittens and they’ve just turned 4 weeks old, 2 of them seem perfectly normal but the other 2 seemed fine at first but the last 2 weeks they seem to have deteriorated, one of them can’t even stand up without falling on its side and rolling around, it cries all the time and it poos herself everyday:( while the other can walk, run and buzz about the room one day then can barely stand up the other day?? It breaks my heart so much they both seem like they’re in pain but I’m going to take them to the vets very soon but will they ever get better or will I have to have her put down?:'(

We did not know anything about a kitten with this disability. I volunteer for HART ( Hardee Animal Rescue Team). My husband and I were fostering 12 kittens and ours was one of them. My husband fell in love with her. When she was the last one and no one wanted her he spoke up. She is now his and has and our first adopted kitten has a great playmate. They are so cute and play like nothing was ever wrong.

I had two kittens with it . One ran away and the other one I fed him raw meat, no cooked food. One day he ate half a london broil . He finally got over it, I also loved him , he was so affectionate, and he loved to sleep next to me like a puppy. Yu could actually hug him and go to sleep , he didnt mind. One day he looked at me and pawed my cheek through the
fence.
Today he is cured and he is so muscular his nicknames are: sack of potatoes, the 18 lb kitten , mighty joe young He weighs a ton and he is not fat. Solid as a rock and not wobbly at all. . . . looks like a complete cure.

My cat has CH. Extremely bad. When he’s trying to go somewhere he just drags his back half of his body. He can’t seem to control his bowels. He leaves a stream of poop as he’s crawling. Hes so blistered down there! I think he’s gonna poop his self to death! Constantly n everywhere. Lately hes been having seizures. He used to not. They happen several times a day. Please give me sum advise!!

Hi Shelly, please IMMEDIATELY take your cat to your Vet clinic. It doesn’t mean he has CH just because he can’t move his back legs – there could be a lot of other, more scary, options as well and he needs to be checked straight away. Please take him now!! I’m sure he is not feeling good at all and needs some help.

Jessica,
Thank you for helping this baby, but…
Please don’t declaw your kitties!!.. it’s like cutting your fingertips off. They can be left in horrible pain and have problems in the future. Please read up on it. This baby doesn’t need anymore issues. =)

I am in rescue and 4 weeks ago a single kitten was turned into our local Petco. At 2 weeks she seemed a normal kitten a little wobbly learning how to get on her feet. Now at 6 weeks it is very apparent that something is not right. We have another foster that has a 10 year old Ch kitty named Cassie’s Dream after the mother kitty that succumbed to the Panluk that gave this kitty Ch. They are so alike in so many different ways Cassie is just better at it because she has been doing it longer. Little one ( I have not found the right name yet) is a great climber to a certain point at 6 weeks. I am in the process of weaning her started yesterday and she does face plants into the bowl. Have not introduced water yet because of that fact and still bottle feeding to make sure she gets plenty of fluids. I forgot to mention when I picked her up she was very sick. Looked like and URI and severely dehydrated. Took 14 days of biomox and 200 ml of fluids to pull her thru but I did. She is a love and is very attentive and interactive as most kittens are a 6 weeks. I have given her a stuffed bunny to bully and she just attacks and plays. They do not need to die. They can have normal kitty lives. Cassie and little one are proof. Being in rescue she is only the 2nd one I have come across so that tells you how rare it is. I have been in rescue since 08

I moved into an apartment that had four kittens on the back porch. One tortuous shell kitten could only pull herself across the grass and had problems getting food etc. There was another one that, I call tinker, that dances. i did not know what was wrong until I read this sight. I found it on Face Book with the cutest video. Thank you so much for this site. I know know what is going on. Missy now can walk, but falls a lot. She shakes when she gets excited eating. I think she remembers not getting enough food. The other two kittens disappeared and that,s when they permanently came into my home. II have learned if I reach down and touch her head and do a soft shh sound she relaxes and stops shaking.
Mommy brought 4 more kittens to my back porch that do not have this problem. I am finding mommy and getting her spay as soon as I can. Again thank you for this and your kind heart. I am wobbling do to needing hip surgery, so Missy and I have a good understanding of each other. Perfect pair.

Hi I have a ch kitten called Misty. He was one of a litter of four. Two of his brothers have it too but the other one is normal. Misty has learned to get around quite well but falls over when he gets excited. He has gotten better as hes got older. He s six months now and learnt a lot from watching his Mother and brothers. Hes only been without them for the last month. Hes very independant but very loving and has me wrapped round his paw. I even recognise the tone of his cries and know exactly what he wants. He struggles with using his litter tray and his food goes everywhere when he eats but I wouldnt change him for the world. X

As everyone knows I have a CH cat. Tumbles just turned 3 Sept 11th. She came to me that way a year ago. I originally had planned to only foster her because i feared she would be euthanized if she went to the humane society due to her disability. When my daughter brought her home, all it took was one glance and i was so devastatingly heartbroken and in love that i knew Tumbles could never leave my side. One year later I am still totally in love with her. Tumbles doesnt take well to other people, and with other pets(we have 4 fostered cats, and a boxer rescue) she’d rather be left alone, however she has grown as close to me as I have to her. She sleeps in my bedroom, sometimes on my bed and sometimes in her own bed. I know every single one of her cries and she will “talk” to me all day long. She waits for me at the door when im gone and gets so excited when I return that she cannot run fast enough. She loves catnip, and it has an opposite affect on her than the other cats. They mellow out, she goes bananas. She will chase me(with a string in tow)around the house but will not play with anyone else. She is a big cuddle baby with me but the center of attention with everyone else, she lures them in so easily(and knows it, lol) and then snubs her nose at them and walks away. She has developed so much more in the last year. I moved her litter box upstairs and she does sooo good climbing the stairs to get it, and does so much better coming down them. She paws her way up the side of my bed to lay down and then paws her way down the foot of my bed to a pillow to get down. She really is so special to me. Ive let her outside in warmer months and she became an escape artist and caused mini heart attacks for me, so in turn i would “ground” her to the house for a couple weeks. We have since found a happy medium. She is permitted on the front porch, secured extra well with baby gates. No morw grass hopping for her in the backyard. I do however take her to the park and allow her to be “queen of the jungle” and she loves it.

So, with that being said, if you ever have the opportunity to adopt or care for a CH cat I’d highly recommend it. The rewards are immeasurable.

Thank you so much we had no idea what was wrong with gibbles he’s my baby he sleeps with me purrs like a normal cat his sister had the same thing but she would just stand up and fall Down so I believe she wouldn’t get better and have her to give her away to a close friend guess what she can jump her syndrome isn’t a bad as gibbles I just thought she wouldn’t try and he seemed .more like a truer animal trying so I kept him he’s amazing even though he falls down he gets back up soo the ls for letting g us know what are cat has me and my husband are both on welfare so the vets quite expensive but an extra 1000 dollars got given our way so he’s going to the vet for shots and a checkup thankyou

We recently took in a CH kitten. She was 5 weeks old when we got her. Her mother was feral and abandoned her and her siblings. She has a mild case. Her siblings were far worse but all found good homes. A friend posted a picture on his fb page and said she needed a home. My son and I instantly fell in love with her. We got her on a Friday. We were told previous to that that she had problems walking but I figured it was because she was young and had been outside. I took her to my vet the Tuesday after I got her. He looked at her and left the room. Next thing I knew his partner came in to evaluate her. At this point my heart is dropping and I am expecting the worst. They start talking and he is using big words. I looked at him and said OK now in English. LOL. He explained CH to me and said he had to get a second opinion because he had only seen a hand full of this kind of cat in his 20+ year career. He said he was glad she found me because he has been my vet for 15 years and knows I go to great length for all my animals. I came home and started researching CH and found this website. It has been a God send. We dropper feed her for a few weeks and I made a rubber made littler box for her right away. She will not use it. Or the next one I made or the trainer one I bought or a regular one. She is 4 months old now. I have tried different litters. I have tried rabbit bedding. I have tried Yesterdays News (made for cats that have been spayed or neutered). I have tried pee pads both in the litter boxes and in the spots she likes to go. She just pulls them up and then goes on the carpet. I tried putting a pad and then an old piece of carpet in the home made litter box and she used it once. I was very excited but then she wouldn’t use it again. If I hear her scratching I know she is getting ready to go but if I catch her and put her in one of the boxes she quits going. The vet suggesting locking her in the bathroom with food, water, her bed and a litter box. She sleeps in my sons room at night and never goes in his room (I guess she considers his room her bed) so one morning he woke up at 7am for school and put her right in the bathroom. At 5pm she still had not gone to the bathroom anywhere. I let her out and she went right down the steps and peed on the carpet. The vet said it may be she will never get the connection. He told me to keep trying but to not get my hopes up. I am going to try to find the AH Clump and Seal litter recommended by someone on this site but if it does not work she will be in diapers. We love our Squeaks and will deal with it as best we can. Thank you for setting up this site which has helped me so much. It is very helpful to hear ideas and stories from other people with CH cats.

We adopted our CH kitten (Twitch) along with a normal cat (Suki) and brought them home the same day. Suki taught Twitch how to use the litter box. He just watched everything she did and tried to copy her. He still has a mishap here and there, but he is really good now. I just thought I’d mention it because it sounds like you’ve tried everything:)

Thank you so much for the info… I do rescue and this is my first little kitty with this disorder… He is a mountain of love and personality and purrs so much. He is at the vets now and I am hoping for the best. It only took a day but I am hopelessly in love with Moose.

I have 3 other cats and she watches them but still has no interest in any of the litter boxes. I did make one out of one of the long under the bed rubber made containers. I cut out both ends so she could walk through and I lined it with pee pads and then put a piece of carpet over the pads. (I am using left over pieces of carpet from remodeling our downstairs). I put it behind our couch because this is one of the areas she likes to go. Last night she went in it and peed. I was so excited because it has been there since a day or two after we got her and the only time she used it was when we caught her going and put her in it. I gave her a treat and some extra love and a few minutes later she went in it and pooped. I again gave her treats and more love and thought this is it. We are getting it but then this morning she came down and peed on my carpet again. I will continue to give her treats when so goes in her special box and hopefully she will get it.

We found Squeaky almost 11 years ago in our yard. She was tiny, like a mouse. We thought she was so young that she didn’t have her “land legs” yet, but soon realized she was disabled. She is all of four pounds and runs the house. We joked that at first she thought her name was Oops, because that was what we said when she tipped over. She has gotten stronger over the years and is a perfect cat. She still tips over from time to time and walks with a sideways gait. She had problems with her digestion as a kitty and she eats a prescription food. Squeaky is super affectionate, a good climber, and the best cat I have ever lived with.

We have a cat with CH that licks herself often but mostly when we pet her. It’s concerning. Please update me if you have found anything out about your cat. I will be taking ours to follow up with our vet.

Yes! I have a CH kitty. She is obsessed with being clean. She flips and flops and licks all day long. I get some of the best giggles and love from her tho. She has no clue she has issues. She plays jus like the others here but she’s very very clean. 💝👍

My husband and I have three cats with CH. I have been around cats by whole life and I found that cats with CH are the most lovable and sweetest. The boy cat was actually scheduled to be put down until we adopted him. I find this crazy because his impairment is so minimal we sometimes forget he has CH. My oldest cat, who is also the most impaired, is truly amazing. We call her Mira, short for miracle. She was supposed to be used for breeding but due to her condition, the breeder was going to put her down until a local no kill shelter obtained her. From there, we adopted her in 2008 and we have been amazed with how much her mobility improved with living in a home. Last year my husband and I noticed changes. She was afraid to put weight on her front left paw. After taking her to 4 vets we finally figured out why, she had a very rare form of cancer that destroyed the soft tissue and the bone in her leg. She had to have her leg amputated and received 5 treatments of chemo in the following months. Since she was impaired before the amputation, we never thought she would walk again. But two weeks after her surgery we found her hopping around the house on three legs. She does almost everything the other two cats do. CH cats are amazing and can compensate under any circumstance.

I have a cat with cerebellar hypoplasia called Wobbles and she is seriously the nicest cat we have ever had. My husband and I are vets and two little CH cats came into his clinic to be euthanised and he naturally could not do it, so one went to one of his colleagues and we got Wobbles.

She is so sweet – she always follows me around, always purrs when I pick her up and she is not at all aloof (like most cats). She really loves being around us and she is completely obsessed with this one toy (if you pick it up or make any indication that you are going to play with her she comes running across the room meowing, it’s so cute). She will play with that thing for hours.

She is quite wobbly on her back legs, but that never seems to stop her! She also is very placid, loves cuddles and sleeps in our bed like a little baby. My husband and I both think that CH cats are much more placid and loving than neurotypical cats. She is just great and we love her so much! We compensate for her disability by keeping her indoors (as she can’t really protect herself from cars and other cats), putting pillows at the bottom of the stairs in case she falls (but she is normally fine navigating the stairs), and helping her with toileting (as occasionally she can fall over), so she just lets us know when she wants to go and we hold her over the actual toilet and she goes in there).

If you say “meow” to her, she will always meow back. If you call her, she comes running (though generally she is normally under my feet when I am home wanting attention). She is honestly more like a dog than a cat! Best cat ever!

Oh, and she gives us laughs every day because she often does things that are quite comical without realising it.

Amanda – Enjoyed reading your blog and all the comments. It’s a special heart to care for a cat with above-average needs. My Maxim has MVD, a liver issue with undersize blood vessels. Initially diagnosed as a Portal Shunt (similar symptoms) he’s the light of our lives. A ‘special-needs’ cat will bring warmth and love to your lives – – people shouldn’t be hesitant to invest the time and the caring, as it returns tenfold in love.
Dan & Maxim

I rescued this amazing little guy “Moose” from the streets.. He had been bitten by a dog (his whole head) and had everything else plus when I met him. I loved your letter and I’m very lucky to have found you guys. Lucky for me and Moose, I have such an awesome vet who helped so much. This little guy is priceless and adorable.. I could kiss him all day.. He plays and is so happy. What a little angel… Thank you for this site. God bless and be safe.

I found my 2 kitties. Missy could only pull herself along the grass. She was not getting food as the other kittens were, no one who touch her etc. I brought her in and made sure she got food, mommies milk etc. She now can walk but very wobbly with her legs spread apart. No one will touch her and all she wants is to be loved. Her sister walks like a prancing horse, can play and looks like a rabbit jumping when she gets playing and chasing bug. Neither can jump up on an object, Tinker Bell can pull her self up on a chair. These kitties have such wonderful hearts. Missy does go out side and hide is the tall grasses to hide, but she does not use litter box, prefers outside. How did you train Wobblies to tell you when she wants to go and the toilet situation, that is the only problem I have. HELP for suggestions.
Caren

Moose & his Mommie –
Takes a special heart to care for a ‘special-needs’ kitty . . but the love they giv back tenfold. Our Maxim wasn’t given 3 months; with the right diagnosis from a great vet & the right meds & plenty of love, he’s going to be 5 years old in April 2015. There were some scary days, to be sure . . . but he’s a fighter !
All Good Things,
Dan & Maxim

My partner and I adopted 2 brother kittens4. Years ago. They have ch. one not too much but the other a drunken soldier always. They have adapted to life and have no clue they are different. They are our babies and I couldn’t imagine life without ziggy and bobby.i we love them and didn’t know u could adopt from a special place. We are very interested in giving another ch kitty a wonderful life.please eail me .thanks

Hi there,
My cat’s name is Iggy, she just started acting like Charley, was wondering if you guys can tell me if CH could’ve been somerging she developed or are CH cats born with this type of behavior.
She’s seven months old and she qasacti g fine until yesterday.
thank you for any type of answer.
😦 Paula

I adopted a cat with CH from a shelter. I have to tell you nothing stops her. She will run fast and tip over get back up and just keep going. She has quite the attitude and wants things her way. She’s very determined kitty. I love her, she’s so loveable and loves as much attention as she can get from whoever will give it to her.

My husband and I adopted cagney and lacey about 2 months ago. We noticed after a couple days that lacey was a little “different ” than cagney. She was not as playful as cagney and would sleep a lot. when she walked her hind legs would be close together. After a couple weeks, she was hesitant to jump up or started climbing the stairs slower. Coming down the stairs she would do a little bunny hop. At first we thought it was because she was so small (cagney was twice her size and they are sisters from the same litter). Over the next couple weeks, she was getting progressively worse. She still was eating, using the litter box but seemed week. She was wobbly when she walked, especially when she stopped. She took pit stops, especially as she climbed the stairs. We brought her to the vet. Xrays were fine but her ears were clogged from ear mites. She treated her ears and cleaned the out. She said it doesn’t look like anything neurological, see how she is after a week. A couple of days later her stolen sample came back positive for a parasite (my cat had no diarrhea and was eating fine so not a severe parasite ). After a few days, she seemed to be a tiny bit better. But her walking was getting worse and she was always sleeping. Took her for bloodwork and the other vet put her on antibiotics while we waited for the results. Results came back negative *except for the virus that always shows up positive even if they are just carriers (from a mom with FIP I think starts with a C)) It was devestating to think this little baby was that sick and Noone knows what it is or any kind of outcome. we couldn’t get near her without meowing loudly. We thought she was in pain, but when she got herself up, we could pet her with no signs of pain. It was almost like she was embarrassed because she couldn’t stand right away. That night I had to carry her up the stairs because it looked like she wanted to but couldn’t. Just 3 days ago we thought we would have to put her down. The morning after the worst night, I got up for work and headed downstairs. This little angel wobbled her way down stairs with speed and energy we hadn’t seen in a while. It was crazy. Our jaws just dropped. She still lays down a lot but she doesn’t seem sick if that makes sense. She still has to take a few seconds when she first gets up, but when she does, she jumps of the couch and stumbles and wobbles to get food. And, although she was eating prior, she is now scarffing her food lol. It’s crazy. Although my vet mentioned CH, we don’t know for sure. Does this sound like CH? Everything I read talks about how their cat walks but nothing is said about other behaviors. I’m wondering if this is not a CH experience. What do you think? Anyone have scary moments prior to diagnosis.

Can’t give you a diagnosis but we had a cat who we are sure had CH. We inherited him from my brother who was emigrating. Alfie Cat was 7 years old. We asked my brother if anything was wrong with him but my brother was very puzzled by our question. Living in an apartment he had seemed quite normal! But… Alfie couldn’t jump. If you picked him up and then dropped him back to the floor he was the only cat I know who could miss the floor every time and fall over. He could walk o.k. except he would regularly drop to the floor. Couldn’t seem to walk continuously for very long. He had no menace reflex – couldn’t hiss at passing dogs – had no muscle tone – just a big cuddly bagpuss type and wobbled – particularly when he was eating – or indeed concentrating on anything When we more recently changed vet our new vet said straightaway that he had CH. Once we read up on it everything fitted – expecially the wobbly bit. He would struggle in kennels as he was wobbly and couldn’t jump. Our lovely kennel lady built a special disabled pen that he could cope with! Sadly Alfie was put to sleep shortly before Christmas. His walking had reduced to 6 steps at a time before needing to collapse and his lack of muscle tone had extended to his rear end in the worst possible way. Our vet said that he felt that the CH had caused him to age in an accelerated way. He had reached 11 1/2 but seemed more like a 16 year old.

Alfie was much loved and had “a good innings” I think. A super friendly saggy little boy who was a complete teddy bear.

thank you so much for your info my kitty is 30 days old it has a sister. and yes mom is still with us but due to problenms during labor this is the only litter she will ever have. they are the only 2 that lived. As i watched hem i knew something was wrong and scared it woud lose hem to. my vet said he is not normal to I need to put hem down. Looking on here I’m so glad I didn’t. I have have a handy cap kid and he is so much fun I’m sure 4 pows will be to. thank you so much for your comments so I know how to handle this

God bless you for not giving up on him.. in the end, he was loved and cared for and safe. That’s all any of us really want. I’m sorry he is gone, but I know he’s doing really well up there in God’s gardens…

Whenever my 4 month old cat walks, her feet slide everywhere, kind of like a newborn deer that is trying to learn how to walk. And when she rolls on the floor to be cute i guess, she hits her head on the floor everytime and she wobbles alot. Does she have CH?

We got our CH kitten, Squeaks, when she was 5 weeks old. She is now 7 months old. She has always fallen over when she runs but her legs have never gone out from under her as you describe. There are many levels of CH. Ours is mild. You should have your kitten checked by a vet to rule out any other issues.

I wrote a while back about our CH kitten Kachiri. She’s about a year old now and doing just fine. She runs, plays eats and pottys like any normal kitty, is just a bit wobbly and does the head swinging back and forth when she walks. We call it her “tracking” mode :). I had a question I wanted to ask. Since Kachiri is the age she is now, she’s gone into heat once. We are very animal population control people, and all our other kittys are spayed or neutered. With Kachiri having the condition she has, we are hesitant to do this with her, as we don’t know how this neurological condition responds to anesthesia. Does anyone here “in the know” have any tips in regards to this?? We would be devastated is we did this and due to this disease she never woke up. We would put up with her yowling when she’s in heat before we’d allow something bad to happen to her getting the spaying done. And I’m aware that NONE of you are Vets, but some of you have to have experience with this. Thanks very much
Katherine, “mom of Kachiri” 🙂

I am a foster for kittens with a rescue group. When they asked me to take in Cruze I was very skeptable because I knew nothing about her condition. When she came to me she was 4 months old and had a wobbly walk (her back legs only) she also had head tremors. I have now had her 6 months because no one wants to adopt her at this time, but to tell you she is amazing!! she now walks better and can jump unto almost everything. Her head tremors are gone and she is the most loving and playful kitten. I also have another foster kitten who came with her and they run and play like crazy along with my own 2 year old Mia who I rescued. Her only problem at this time and I hope someone has gone through this to help me. When she drinks it seems like she is having trouble swallowing, also during the night she sounds like she is coughing or gaging, I took her to the vets months ago and he diagnosed her with acid reflex. She is on a special medication I give her at night but I do not see a difference in her. I will be keeping her because of the bond we share. Thank you very much Patti

I have a yr old CK Calico cat . I need your help with her needs . I think she has gotten away from using her back legs , she drags herself more ,therefore ,limiting her distance of travel . She eats ,loves to sun and curious when looking at my indoor cats . She and another Calico live in their back yd , protected and have houses at my patio door . I may have to go out of town and work . I don’t think she could be with me .
For her , if someone could give her quality life , I would continue to support her financially . She is bright and lovely eyes . Can some one call me to discuss 916 261 1493 . Like to here from one experienced with CH . Thank you Henry

This is an add on to my previous comment back in February. Since than I brought Lacey to another vet and she thought FIP right away. FIP symptoms show when a cat with FIP is put through a stressful situation. For Lacey the only thing (which is at the top of the last of stressful scenarios ) was her move in with me and my husband. Than the new vet checked her ears and they were full of ear mite crap (nothing I had ever seen, but no live eggs). The previous Vet never cleaned her ears out so now she has double inner ear infection, which could be the problem. Back on antibiotics and back to we don’t know what is wrong. Now it’s just a watching/waiting game. She didn’t even mention CH. I will say, lacey has changed dramatically. Although she still wobbles, still has very little muscle tone and is still skinny (4.9 lbs @ 9 months), she eats, runs and is now playing a lot more. She follows her sister around and follows us around everywhere. Any ha e an experience like this whether CH or FIP or something else. It’s so hard not knowing what is wrong and not being able to help her in any way.

We used to be scared when our kittened flipped over too. Now that we know this is just her we laugh. We gated our stairs so she couldn’t fall down them but that was all. She was 5 weeks when we got her and she is now 9 months. She goes up the steps fine but tends to tumble down them when she doesn’t take her time. She runs across the room and goes head first into our patio door or chairs or anything else that is in her way but never gets hurt. I think she is just used to banging into things. She makes us laugh all the time. She will all of a sudden jump up in the air and then start bouncing around like a kangaroo. As she is getting older she is learning to control much of her movement. We have a 13 year old dog that she sleeps with and when she is running around she has learned to jump over him when before she would just run right into him. My experience shows me that CH cats are like kids and learn to adapt. Just give her and her siblings time to learn as they grow and they will adapt to their disability.

It can be scary… but the good news is lots of times, the kitten gets stronger and more able to adjust to their condition. They do not know that this is not normal. My CH cat (Moose) could not walk, just stand… you should see him now…. please be patient and don’t give up. I wish many blessings on you and your new brood …

I recently fostered 3 kittens from 4 weeks old. They make it so worth while. They are now 6 weeks old. This morning my little Charlie started to act funny. Totally off his food, so scared of everything, not able to wee or poo, and very wobbly. He also seemed to not be seeing properly. He is at the moment at the vet. My Vet says he is sure its CH. He is so worried about the not eating and not going to the toilet. I was so distraught but you have all helped me have hope for him. Thank you

Thanks for the blog and educating people about this condition. I rescue and just trapped a little feral baby with this. I had one a year or so ago as well and he was bonded to another kitty which he used as his sensor. He would follow her without fear and somehow knew that where she went was okay for him. I think it was easier for him to judge where she was and it made it easier for him to understand his surroundings. They were adopted together 🙂

We adopted a CH kitten earlier this week. He was to be euthanized yesterday if he didn’t find a home. We fell in love immediately! He and his brother are enjoying life with us. We will adapt to take special care of our little “Guy”.

I have a cat named toni who has whqt i would say to be mild ch i adopted her about 4 months ago and not olny is she super well behaved she is honestly the sweetest cat i have ever met and her walk is so cute i am so happy i got her no other cat would have been such a geat fit for me

I found out today that our 9 month old kitty’s condition is CH. The video of Charley made me feel so much better. When she first started falling over 2 weeks ago, we didn’t know what to do, but she’s already compensating for her disability. Seeing Charley has given me hope. Thank you.

Hello! I have the most lovely cat named Lexi with CH. My concern is that she seems to have nightmares, the only way I can explain it, and seems disoriented after awakening. This comes and goes but it is upsetting as I have no idea what to do for her. She is approximately 4 years old and is in good health. My fiance feels that possibly some sort of sensitive would maybe relax her for more restful sleep as she kicks as if she is trying to run from something. She is well adjusted and has 5 other cats of which one is her very best friend. Most either ignore her or treat her as any other cat. I’m not so sure medication is good for her but would like to know if any other kitty out there may have this issue. We got her at a no kill shelter with limited information and hope it isn’t a sort of seizure and I fear that it may be painful or uncomfortable as animals attempt to hide such things. If any CH Moms or Dadds have any experience with this please let me know what you have done to help eliviate her discomfort or is it just me feeling she is uncomfortable. Bless all of you who take the time and energy to love and care for such special cats. My Granddaughter loves her and calls her Grandmoms cat with the funny brain! She is 4 too and I am happy to teach her to be compassionate to animals as well as people who are a bit different. Thanks to you all!!

Can a cat appear fine as a kitten and develop or show the signs of CH as a young adult. My young female is having trouble walking like she is just using one side of her body like the other side is week. Her head is bobbin up and down. She hasn’t been eating much Or drinking and hasn’t gone to the bathroom in a couple day’s. She has always been fast and has had great balance. Really want to know what is wrong with her 😦

I too have a C.H cat, he is black, and his name is Squall, a force of nature and a loud noise! He is 8, and over time he has greatly improved. His mother who also is here, had two litters too close together, and was in slightly poor health when we got her. Which I think that is why Squall A.K.A Varmint lol, has C.H. He is a loaded with personality, being 1/4 Siamese. When he starts running after his mother you would hardly know there was anything wrong with him, alright wobbles when he walks. I love him sooo much, I am thank God for him frequently! His mother Ficina though, isn’ t terribly fond of her son. She puts up with him though.o

I have a Ch cat 🐱 who is a year old, he has a pretty sever case he can only walk a few steps before falling. He has stopped using the cat litter box due to falling in it. What can I do to help him? He is the most loving 😍 cat 🐱 I have ever had I just want to make his life better.

Our CH cat, Squeaks, just turned 1 year old. She has never used the litter box. We got her when she was 5 weeks old. Whenever she looked like she was looking for a place to go we would put her in the litter box. Sometimes she would go sometimes she wouldn’t. We tried boxes with lids, boxes without lids, every kind of litter made and even rabbit bedding as one of the girls that works at our vet said her cat would not use anything else. I made my own litter box and this has helped some. I got a rubber made under the bed tote and cut off both ends with an electric hand saw. I taped pee pads inside it and have collected carpet pieces from friends that I put over the pads because Squeaks will only go on carpet. This has helped but not stopped her from going other places in the house. She has started going outside like our other cats do (she has a mild case of CH) but I know come winter time we will be dealing with her peeing on the carpet again. Natures Miracle has become a staple in our house. It really does get rid of the smell. I am not impressed with the one that goes in a steam cleaner but the direct spray on works great. I have also seen utube videos of people putting diapers on their cats. Hope this helps.

My cat “Butters” seems to be a CH cat. She was a rescued kitten found when a drug house was torn down. The only two other kittens in the litter were alive. I had assumed her gate was related to the drug house activity. The part of her behavior that fits not fit your description is that her hind quarters are sensitive and she does not like to be pet on her back or legs, and only invites petting when she wants to be fed. When she has had enough petting she will back off and hiss. In general a very anti social 6 year old cat, but we love her anyway. Could this anti social behavior be related to CH? Any thought on how to minimize her anti social behavior?

My Squeaks who is a CH cat is sometimes the same way. We got her at 5 weeks. She loved to snuggle and be pet but at about 7 – 8 months old she changed. She no longer wanted to be pet or held. She would bite and scratch us if we even tried to pick her up. We have a cat door on our patio screen door. Spring came and our other cats started going in and out and one day she got out. I was worried and checked on her constantly. She didn’t go very far. After about a month of her roaming in and out at will she changed again and now will let us hold her and pet her. She has always been sensitive on her back end and gets mad if our hands get anywhere near her butt so we just pet her neck. Her snuggling is on her terms but it is like that with all of our cats. I don’t know how long you have had your cat but if it was not use to people it could take a long time for her to trust to build. Sounds to me like she found a good home. I hope she comes around for you.

Hello my feral female cat we couldn’t catch had a litter of kittens one of them {4 weeks old} has a problem with balance he wobblys and falls on his side seems like he can’t always hold his head up, I’m hopeful that he/she will be fine we have a TNR program that is helpful but I want to keep the kittens after there fixed. I’m happy to know there is a possibility that this little kitten will be able to adjust to his health problem. I’m going to contact our no kill shelter and ask if they can do some test to be sure it isn’t something more then CH. Thank you for the information it is most helpful. We are retired so we can devote our time to our ferals and help this little kitten whom we already love. Once again thank you for the information.
Linda McCoy

I have a sweet 1.5 year old ginger female with a mild case of CH. Her walking is slow, tends to miss the litter box, mild head tremors, can’t jump to high places but has no issues running. Do these things get worse ?

I have a cat with ch I’ve had her since she was born I’ve always taken really good care of her even bottle feeding her when her mother stopped feeding her, but here recently she has become very agressive towards me she hides behind things all day then at night she will lay on me like she used to but instead of purring she growls when i touch her and sometimes even hisses..I’m just wondering if her condition makes her aggressive.

Our cat icesis may hve ch the vet says its possible. We cant afford a ct scan or mri. I read tht its not suppose to get worse but over the 3 yrs we jve had her it is slowly getting worse. Shes a great climber, and we love her so much. I was wondering if there is some type of diet tht would strenthen her bones. Its very hard watching het decline and there isnt avilb treatments😞

I would get her to your vet asap. From what my vet told me they are born with CH. Their fine motor shills do not develop right and it shows from the start. It sounds like your cat may have something more going on.

I had a C.H cat named Digit. His mother abandoned him at 3 weeks old. My son and I raised him, bottle fed him. Watched him suffer for first 3 months of his life with seizures . My goal was to give him a chance to survive and make him as comfortable as possible. We was the sunshine in our lives for 8 years. He had no idea he was different, special, and unique. Sadly he passed away on June 11. For whatever reason, his kidneys failed, we treated him for months, and he was not responding to the treatment . I miss him dearly, and life is just not the same with him gone. Moral of this story…. these special babies can live normal lives and and long lives… please give them a chance to make your life special .

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but I have saved it and also included your RSS feeds, so when I have
time I will be back to read a great deal more, Please do keep up the great work.

I believe the stray we took in a month ago as a rescue has CH. The way he walked was the 1st thing I noticed. I already had 14 indoor rescues living with me before smooch and that’s the reason I picked up on him having something going on that wasn’t quite right. My vet had already seen him and only confirmed he was suffering from malnutrition . I read in another online article that a cat on the verge of starvation can also develop CH. I agree as time has gone on other than his lack of jumping up ot down he seems pretty well adjusted. He has not made any attempts at this point however to try to get close to any of the other cats, I can only hope over time he will. You also noticed his limits when he’s going up the 13 stairs to the 2nd floor. But you are totally right that he is very lovable unless held too long at which point he will display his dissatisfaction with a growl but never any intent to bite. We love him to death.

When I got my CH kitten many said to block steps so she didn’t fall and break a leg. My Squeaks is 1 1/2 years old and I have had her since she was 5 weeks old. I did not block anything. I found that she learned to adapt very well. She goes up and down stairs and loves to be outside. She is always bringing me mice. I think she is faster than my “normal” cats. The only thing I found and have seen in other posts is that when she was little she was very loving but as she has gotten older she will let me hold her or she will lay on my lap but never for more than 3-5 minutes. She does run to me all the time but a little pet under the neck is all she wants. Many CH kittens/cats seem to not like their rear ends touched unlike my other cats. Good Luck with your new addition. Every day he/she will make you smile.

My CH kitty, Stilly is blind and the sweetest adorable lots of kisses kind of cat. I am devoted to her needs. She is now not able to get into the liter box by herself so I stay with her in the same room…She rolls out of her bed, meows and I wake up…Its potty time and time to EAT. She sleeps a lot…after piss and something to eat I put her back in her bed and she goes to sleep. When time permits I put her on my bed and spent time brushing and messaging her back legs. She was left on my doorstep 5 years ago. I would love it if she could go in the liter box. I also have 2 other adult cats that are fine. Any ideas???

We adopted a 3yr old cat from a shelter 5 months ago. When we got him home we noticed he tipped over easily, has difficulty jumping, and when walking his back legs just didn’t seem to always work or he stumbles going up the stairs and has a really funny gait coming down the stairs – he hops instead of a normal gait so he sounds like a bouncy ball coming/going .

We had been told he was in the shelter for over 2months so I assumed it was from being in a cage without much exercise. It never improved over time, however.

Came across an article this week about an adopted cat with CH and I now think it’s what our guy might have. Will talk to our vet about it.

I have a 7 month old female kitten that for the last three weeks has started walking oddly in her back legs. She starts walking along ok and her left back leg will start to collapse on her and sometimes her whole back end collapses. Also she is not pooping in the litter box. Her poop is usually 3 or 4 small round balls that are not real hard but not super soft either. Plus she has some trouble jumping on a chair or couch. She doesn’t attempt to jump on anything very high like she used to. I have had her to the vet and he gave her steroid shots that helped very little and blood work was done but nothing showed up. The vet says to wait 6 monthes to see if she improves but in the meantime do you have any ideas on what I can do about her litter box problems?

We rescued a CH cat from a shed. HER littermates were all perfectly fine. We noticed something was definitely wrong with him. After,much debate( we already have 2 cats, one being a Savannah who,loves to hunt) we decided to bring him home. We segregated the kitten until our Savannah got used to his smell. He is now a year and a half and happy and healthy. The Savannah loves to run and chase with our CH cat(woody). I’m so glad we brought him in. He never would be survived in the wild. He’s my,little buddy. Follows me everywhere including to take a shower. He loves water!!!

Our CH cat, Calvin is the love of my life!! He is so adorable….follows me everywhere, loves to be held and rocked …. plays with our other cat that is healthy. I would get another in a heartbeat if I could find one! I love you Calvin!

Love the blog due to I myself have a CH kitten,he was adopted almost a yr ago and he is the best. Tumbleweed is his name, do to the falling and rolling all the time, a friend had a litter if kittens at her house and when old enough was taken to the barn, I couldn’t let this poor little guy go out to try to survive the big world he would be exposed to, afraid he wouldnt be able to survive I decided to bring him home, takes training to use a litter box due to he couldn’t stand long enough to do his business in the box we had a lot of accidents over the side but as he has gotten bigger he does fine now. Tumbleweed and my boyfriends German Shepherd r best friends. Tumbleweed has just now been allowed outside due to we live in Mich and spring is finally coming, he goes out under supervision from us humans and his best friend ROC, the shephard, ROC won’t let him out of his sight and rounds him back toward the house if he goes to far. For anyone out there that sees a CH kitten they r wonderful to have and the will and strength of them is amazing for all the falls they have.

Wow! Look at all the comments! I never knew of CH until we adopted two kittens from two different litters and one has been diagnosed. This is the best and most clear cut article I was able to find on the topic. The “drunken sailor” had me exhaling and saying, Finally! THIS is what he has! Thank you. Thankfully his case is mild and I am SO relieved to learn it is not progressive! Now we love him even more!

Great information thank you — I had a Foster kitten who had similar traits but we later found out he had a shunt liver. He would drool, breath heavily, and looked not good and at his worst became comatose. Turns out he had to nix protein from his diet, and get a surgery at UC Davis. He is recovering and happy now.

my cat had 5 kittens and ive noticed only one of them is very wobbly it breaks my heart watching her struggle trying to play. With her brothers and sisters shes such a trooper though she runs n is a great climber. Ive seen her try to walk normal but she falls over n ends up completely rolling over my heart just melts watching her do this my husband tells me not to get attached. But theres something about her that makes me love her more n more… Im not sure if she has ch but from what i have read it might be is there anyway i can help my kitty get better with her walking to have a more productive life ?

@April – I don’t believe there is any way to improve CH.. but please take her to the vet for a true diagnosis. Our vet said that all the kittens in the litter would have it. SO perhaps it is something else. But CH kitties don’t know anything is wrong with them so with lots of love she can live a happy life 🙂

It sure sounds like she might, my male cat Squall, got better as he got older, he still walks like a toddler, but jumps very well. What Squall lacks in balance he more than makes up for in personality.

Does CH cause continuous symptoms, or can they be intermittent? My cat is perfectly fine most of the time, but has episodes now and then of losing his coordination/mobility. I’ve taken him to several vets, and still no answer. He has had an MRI, which came up normal, but I’m wondering if this could possibly be the answer, as we’ve already ruled out so many other things.

Just found out the kitten we found has this. I was wondering if sudden bursts of energy is another symptom. She will all of a sudden take off and run around in a manner that seems like she has no control of what she’s doing.

A friend has a wobbly kitty. Her formal name is “Weebles”, as in “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down….”, but she likes to be called “Weebie”. She is one of the sweetest cats I’ve ever met. She purrs all the time ( the windows rattle. ..), chirps & answers when you talk to her, and she’ll go for walks with you. I love her to pieces & would adopt one ( or more!) of these little wobbly characters in a second!!!

I’m an animal shelter volunteer and cat foster home. I’ve seen several instances of CH with varying severities. One kitten can walk slowly but watches sadly from the corner as her brothers play. Her head wobbles and she has trouble looking up. Another adult I knew could take care of her own needs but for every 2 steps forward, she would fall back one. Happily a kind family fell in love with her and she has been adopted and is doing great at her new home. The saddest example I can think of is a small kitten that doesn’t even try to stand. If put on his feet, he just sinks to the ground and lays his head down like the effort is just too much for him. At the same time, he is very sweet and likes to be held, so I have hopes that someday some dedicated cat person will take him home and give him lots of cuddles. These cats are not damaged or worthless like some people think, they want to be loved just as much as a non CH cat and often have a huge heart and tons of love to give in return, so please consider adopting one of these “unadoptable” cats and most likely saving it from a life at a shelter or being euthanized.

I had a black tuxedo cat that suffered from CH. I was lucky enough to have him for 15 years. Aside from him wobbling around like a little drunk he was an AMAZING cat. He was lovable, playful, well behaved and touched my heart deeply!

Just got a CH kitty for my daughter who has spina bifida. We have one problem…finding a way for them to have physical contact. My daughter is wheelchair bound & has problems holding her new kitty…likewise, the kitty can’t get up into her chair, either. Otherwise, they adore each other and are getting along famously. Any suggestions ? BTW, these kitties have more personality & love than the average cat !

We had a stray beautiful cat turn up on our doorstep, so we started feeding her, after a few weeks she started to come indoors, and was getting quite tame and quite round, I said to my husband she pregnant, she has found us to look after her. Of course I didn’t mind I love cats so she came to live with us, after 6 weeks week the kitties arrived, she had 5 beautiful little ones, well all was going good until one of them went down with cat flu, nearly lost meenie, then Simon went down with it, so i feeding them every 2 hours food and water plus anibiotics and anti inflammatory medication for 10 days, they both seemed to pull thorough, but now have been left with wobbly legs, the vet said there was nothing to be done and that they would live as long as normal cats, I could never have had them put to sleep, so now we have all five kitties playing and being lovely, mum still enjoys playing and running around, she could not have been no more than 15 months old herself very young and very small, im keeping all the cats, can’t bare to part with them now, they bring so much joy and so long as they are not in pain I will continue to love them. I don’t see them as being disabled just a little impurfect…..

Found this kitten aboutv4 orb5 months old. Very skinny and quite whobbles. The kitten appears to be a ferrel. We got it from under our car. Into the garage and then into the screened porch. He is eating and drinking.
Won’t let us pick it up. What should we do. I would get it to a vet but don’t know how to get it in a boxyerrie

I have a 5 year old male cat that has just started to lose his balance. I have taken him to the vet on more than one occasion to find out what is wrong and not once did they mention cerebral palsy! I just saw a video on you tube of a cat with it and that’s exactly what my cat looks like. It just started a couple of months ago though. Is this possible?

I volunteer for a rescue so when my boyfriend was looking for a kitten I brought him up there. He was looking at kittens when one of the other volunteers brought a kitten to me telling me she was special. They said she’s a flame point (or colorpoint shorthair) with CH. They told me all about her, and I was worried that she might not find a home. That was four hours ago, and this perfect little kitty is now a little sister to my other cat. My other cat, a ragdoll mix, has stomatitis, an auto immune disease that required the removal of all of her teeth! I have two special needs kitties, and I couldn’t be happier!

I volunteer at a local animal shelter. A few weeks ago, somebody brought in three orphaned kittens. Their mother had died and the owner could not raise them. I took the kittens home to bottle feed and it soon became evident that one of them was not like his brothers. This little guy, whom I named Peanut, seemed to tremble a lot and his head bobbed up and down. When the other two began to scramble around, he was very uncoordinated and wobbly on his feet. I’m positive he has CH. The other two have been returned to the shelter to be adopted out, but I’m keeping Peanut. It would be hard to find somebody willing or capable of taking care of him, plus I have grown attached to the little guy. He eats fine on his own now and he plays and gets around pretty well. He has trouble jumping, but he can climb just fine. I believe he has vision problems and I’m certain he is also deaf. I’m glad to have the little guy, though.

Carolyn, how does Peanut handle relieving himself? I have a 10 week old CH kitten, Freya, and I have found her soaked in her own urine at least once a day. I bathe her and try to stimulate her to go on a potty pad when I’m around but I work during the day. Any tips?
Thanks, Giavanna

This is helpful information. I rescued a feral kitten from outside my work – the kitten is about 5 wks old – and she seems to have this. I have other cats, but I haven’t let her integrate with them quite yet. She eats well from a plate, gets totally filthy, then cleans herself. But I need advice about two issues: water and litter box. Her head bobs around so much that I am worried about how she can drink. And how do I give her a place to use the bathroom without her falling into her #1 & 2? Thank you!

My now two yr old CH cat bobs his head too but does drink from the dogs water bowl. He uses our largest litter box…..falls and falls out! But I clean it every day – sometimes he lands in his poop but I just clean him up if that happens. Small price to pay for a wonderful, most loving cat I have ever had!! Wouldn’t trade Calvin for a million bucks!
Nancy
Cadillac, MI

I have had my Ch kitty for about a year.He is two. He not only has CH, but bone and tendon deformities , cataracts and an ataxic gait.. These are balanced by a brave spirit and a sweet disposition. He will “climb” ( pulls himself up) carpeted stairs to find me up stairs, so I have to be aware he is there.He loves to bat dance with a toy fish and bat balls and wads of paper.He was not eating well but then decided he likes a sort of semi frozen food I made of blended salmon cat food and a special diet the vet prescribed, plus a commercial chow.His weight is good. He does ok with the litter box now, but I had to put a brick in it to keep him from tipping it over. He also lies on his side to do 1 and 2, and most of the time he manages to not fall into it. If he does I clean him up. He has no problems drinking now, but when he came to the sanctuary where I got him the owner had been following the vet’s instructions foe subcutaneous fluids until he was drinking water.Want to offer you some encouragement in your adventure with the kitten,,,,some things might improve as she matures. A bit of trial and error, take your cues from the little girl. Namaste!

Stephanie, I have a 10 week old CH kitten and just bought her a small animal water bottle with a stand from Amazon. It’s the type they lick and the little metal ball releases the water from the tank. It is adjustable in height and I’m hoping it will work for her as she gets bigger. Right now I give her water from a dropper as often as I can and show her the water bottle all the time. She can only use it when I hold her up to it right now but she’s very young. Here’s a link to the one I purchased https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0158RJM9O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. Hope that helps! Giavanna

My kitten is about 15wks with ch and idk how 2 get him 2 eat on his own if u have any advice please email me 20debw16@gmail.com right now I hold a plate in front of him, he drinks water out of a glass and uses a litter box if he can make it 2 it thank u

My irresponsible farmer neighbour doesn’t believe that spayed females will mouse. You can’t feed them either or they won’t mouse. I just gave away numbers 91, 92, and 93 kittens that were thrown away by such neighbours. This June a wobbler was born to a litter of three. I tried not to interfere and to just let nature take it’s course. I had never heard of wobblers and this kitten survived. He decided that he wanted to live in our house, so he does. All of the other kittens have to be trapped but not Bob,
and he is sooo sweet. I think he may also be deaf. Being that wobbly one would think that he couldn’t chase balls but you should see him go. Best hockey player of all the kittens that I have ever rescued. He seems to never stop purring. Such a lovely cat.

We rescued Dee Dee when she was only 3 weeks old, we had to teach her everything, we new she had special needs and we’ve accommodated her in every way. Only recently did we discover she has CH. We are so relieved she will live a normal life, we’ve worried alot that her disability may impact her life. We are so relieved to know she will have a normal life span. She is so great, full of love and personality. She is the best thing to happen to us and she is loved and spoiled rotten! She is 2 now and has adapted to her disability and seems to do better than before.

I have a 10 week old kitten, Freya, with severe CH. She has not yet learned how to properly crawl to things she needs and always falls over. She is otherwise loving and happy but she pees on herself daily and doesn’t always go pee when I try to stimulate her. I am hoping that she will one day be able to at least crawl to a potty pad to urinate but so far she is not grasping that the pad is where she needs to relieve herself. For now I can bathe her daily and try my best to get her to go when I am home, but laying in your own urine all day while Mommy is at work is no way to spend your days. Does anyone have experience with this that can offer some hope or tips? I built her a walker out of PVC pipes and fittings but she is too young to use it yet. I love her so much but worry about her quality of life going forward. Any words of help or encouragement would be appreciated. Thanks, Giavanna

Hi Amanda.
I am glad I found your blog. I recently had the chance to visit with a Amelia, a CH kitten. What a love she is.
I have a question for you or anyone who can shed some light on this. Does anyone have any experience with the use of a cart to build up muscle? What about home based PT? I think Amelia has a moderate firm of CH.
We lost our beloved 16 yr old cat last year. He was the light of my life. I knew he would lead me to another cat when the time was right.
Since I also have a neurological disease, MS, I thought Amelia and I would have a lot in common!
Thanks for the informative site.

I have a cat that was vaccinated and did not know she was pregnant. There was 1 lost kitten, female, still born, and was stuck in canal. The other 3 are 4wks and female also. I am wondering how to tell if they have cerebellar hypoplasia? Is there any way to tell at this age? Or do I have to observe for signs at a later age?

Hi, a quick question about this condition. As someone who has suffered from bouts of labyrinthitis, would a cat affected by CH suffer the same symptoms of dizziness, nausea and vomiting, the unpleasantness of feeling that they are ‘walking on a boat’, or would it simply wobble?

We adopted three kittens right before the holidays. Two were thought to be litter mates and thought to be 7 weeks old. The little girl, who we named Brees, became very ill just a day after we brought her home. Since they were technically fosters, we called the rescue place we got them from. They gave her an iv of fluids and sent me home with antibiotics. The next day she was doing worse, so I called our vet. She stayed with them for 5 days, and we weren’t sure she was going to live. Long story short, she came home with us even though we still didn’t know if she would live. We thought she was wobbly because she had been so sick, but now we know she has CH. She is a little spitfire, her back legs are very wobbly and she has a pretty good head bob, as well as having asthma. We love her to death, and she is not afraid of anything! We have decided she needs to be an indoor cat, so the other two we brought home will also stay inside. Our 2 adult cats are very gentle with her, as well as our 3 dogs. Our 14-month old puppy has adopted her and makes sure she is safe all the time. I know that if we hadn’t taken her home, she would not be alive today. Anyone thinking about adopting a CH cat, they are definitely challenging sometimes, but worth it!

Mine is like this but also,sometimes,out of nowhere turns his head sideways and zones a second and lashes out into a leg or whatever and then just fine He had major head trauma and we saved him and there was issues with eating and jumping and he’ll act lost and meow when alone.

I adopted a kitty from a shelter about 8 years ago, she was the only cat left and no one had wanted her for some reason. I had no idea why I thought she was gorgeous, we did think she was kind of weird, she walks like a fish lol and bobs her head up and down when she eats and gets so scared of loud noises and sudden movements. I had to take her to the vet for a check up and he told us, he was she had this condition too, although very mild. Does anyone else notice that their kitties bite to tell them what they want? Bella is her name and other than that little personality quirk she is super sweet, she is my little shadow and loves to sit on me all the time. I am so grateful I adopted her everyday!

I believe I have a CH cat, we’ve always said she’s “off kilter”, “not your normal graceful cat”, but never knew what caused it. I just saw a video recently titled “wobbly cat” and I said to my husband and kids that that is totally or cocoa, that’s how I came across the CH name. the information definitely answers questions I’ve had, and I’m relieved to know she’s not in pain and that she thinks she’s normal. she will be 11 years old this summer and she is certainly entertaining 😊

I have a CH kitty Buff who is very special. His mom is a “feral” cat that we feed outside and have houses for her to stay at. She rarely leaves the yard. We thought she was a boy because she is orange but one July morning I saw her with a kitty and said Buff is a Buffy. We trapped the kitties and adopted Buff who has CH. He looks just like his mom. We have to feed him out of our hand and with a spoon which he loves. He can’t do steps so we take him every so often for “bathroom breaks.” He’s very affectionate and doing very well. Our vet has told us that he feels Buff has us right where he wants us and he knows it but if he were his cat he’d do the same thing.

Molly was diagnosed CH sixteen years ago. She was from a litter of kittens taken into care by the RSPCA from a builders yard. My daughter adopted her and and she developed symptoms of cat enteritis which she contracted while at the RSPCA kennels,but she survived that and then we noticed the symptoms which the vet diagnosed as CH,but my daughter decided to keep her. She has ever left the flat until today when due to health problems associated with her condition and age she was put to sleep by a sympathetic vet who was impressed that Molly had survived that long with CH. It’s distressing to have a pet put to sleep, they’re part of the family, but as caring people we have the responsibility to do what’s best for them.

Please accept my family’s profound sympathy. I haven’t yet had to make the decision to put a pet to sleep, but we’ve lost kitties and I know it is sad in a way non-pet people just don’t undersand. She had a happy life with you. Sympathy from everyone here.

I have a wobbly cat called Jelly. She is gorgeous. She was the first in her litter to use litter tray and be weaned. She is so affectionate and adorable and has bought so much joy to my life x would not be without her and she is quite capable of getting her own way with my other cats.

Marina: You sounded unsure, but you did a great job describing the exercises you and your cat did. I know you thought there was a risk if a non-pro tried this, but I imagine most CH cat owners would say it was worth a try. Especially since there’s no known treatment.

Most of all I imagine someone who’s not sure their kitty has CH — this is a treatment that isn’t going to harm anyone, and it’s a nice bonding experience.

My husband and I are Daddy and Mommy to CH kitties Bruce and Wayne, who no longer display any symptoms. On an unrelated note — Wayne is blind.

You won’t find a funnier, more loving, SMARTER cat. I keep wondering how he does things. He learned to jump onto a bed, with (I think) no one on it. How? He walks right through doorways without brushing the edge. He not only plays with string, mice, kitty balls, etc., he does it with more enthusiasm and endurance than any normal cat I’ve seen.

So the moral of the story is…don’t be afraid to adopt a special needs cat. In fact, I encourage you to go looking for a special needs cat. This is what I did, and it worked out wonderfully.

I forgot to mention the grand finale: When Wayne wants to play with a toy again, he heads straight for it an unerringly finds it. Sense of hearing won’t explain THAT. He doesn’t seem to use his sense of smell much, but even if he was smelling catnip, he actually does this more often with things that don’t have any catnip. Me, I think he has super powers ;–)

My cat started out 3months ago starting shacking and dragging he’s back legs i. rushed him to my vet he has just turned 1 yes old. My vet said it was a neurologic problem from a trauma injury. When he was a tiny kitten he climb up he’s cage door and fell that’s what caused it. I am giving him him liquid vitamin B12 and a herb veggie capsual i no it will take time for this to work just started giving it to him. Thank GOD for people like you all that share your stories it really helps so you don’t feel alone. My tippy is my baby.

We have a bengal cat named Amore and the vet thinks she has cerebellar hypoplasia, because she constantly moves her head from side to side, especially when she gets upset about something. She has some trouble jumping without falling over and she likes to stay in one room but she copes well with it as she’s had it all her life (about 9 years). She’s a very friendly, vocal, and cuddly cat and we wouldn’t want to live without her.

I have a CH kitty. Her name is Kachiri. I run a small kitty rescue. She was a kitten in a group of 8 others I got. The night before the CH decided to rear it’s ugly presence, I had tended to the kittens and got them in their cage for the night. The next morning, kachiri was down and could not get up. We thought she’d gotten an inner ear infection. I fed and got her water for 3 days then took her to our vet. Got antibiotics although he was pretty sure it wasn’t an ear issue. Did research. Came to the conclusion it was CH. When this happened, chiri(her nicname) was about 2 mos. old. CH can present when an animal is up to about a yr old. It’s caused when a mother kitty was exposed to distemper. The babies then have the chance of getting this. Dogs can get this as well, but they can’t catch it from another animal, it’s something puppies or kittens are born with. More to follow

People need to be educated about this disease, all of you posting to this site, PLEASE PLEASE, pass the info you’ve learned here, on to others and ask them to do the same. Our Kachiri is the most loving silly girl. She has the head wobbles, and we are pretty sure she’s deaf or has very little hearing. Her balance is off a bit but she will go through the house like a rocket. These CH kittys should NEVER be allowed outside unless you have an actual pen they can be contained in. Since they usually have bad balance and can’t see like a normal kitty, they have no real natural defenses and can be hurt by other animals or hurt by balance issues. We have a large chain link dog pen we have converted to kitty friendly. That way she can safely go outside.

CH Cats are wonderful animals. I Just lost my CH Cat (Felix) to old age but I never spent a moment regretting having him in my life. He brought so much joy to my husband and myself. Felix was with us for 21 year and I was lucky to have him. I have 4 other rescue cats but I will always look to adopt a CH Cat. I miss him very much.

Jim Jaconetta: Now that is real devotion! When we were looking for special needs kitties (wound up with the amazing Bruce and Wayne, bonded 7-year-old brothers, Wayne is blind and both have CH that no longer shows) we said the one disability we couldn’t deal with was inability to use the litter box. Now, my husband also said he couldn’t deal with a blind cat, and you should see him loving on “his” Wayne.

My special cat is Garfield he is orange and was litter of 5 born in my home. I knew he was different from the beginning I kept him, as I felt he needed me. He wasn’t bad in beginning later got worse with walking. Vet told me he was special and I already knew that. He loves to be close and sleep with us. Sweet cat, I have lots of cats and I felt someone wouldn’t want to deal with a special cat. I love my cats 😉

Wow am I glad to have found this page 🙂 We just adopted a pair of siblings, known to be born of a feral mother (and therefore clearly unvax’d). One of the pair is a fully grown glossy curious pesky affection 10 pounder, the other is a 6 pound cat we’re desperately trying to turn into a 7 pound cat 😛

She and several litter-mates were sick with an undiagnosed illness (and not for lack of trying, they did every assay they could), one died, the rest recovered, but she remained very small (soo many blood tests, soo many negative results). I don’t know that the shelter staff would have noticed her slightly drunken walk or very very slight head tremor since they simply did not have the time to spend hours with each cat, but these things were apparent to us within a couple of days of bringing the sisters home.

My question for anyone dealing with a CH cat: this little girl is a very disinterested eater. In fact she lost weight during the transition from shelter to new home and became lethargic and sleepy. I found a high-cal supplement and started putting canned cat food laced with it under her nose every 2 hours and suddenly she’s more awake and paying attention to her surroundings.

What’s interesting (and scary) to me though, is that her hind-end coordination was MUCH worse when she wasn’t eating – less of the drunken-sailor walk and more of the ‘fall on her hip every couple of steps’ walk. As soon as I began pushing food on her, her walking coordination improved, though she’s still not climbing the cat tree the way she was initially.

Has anyone else had experience with an under-weight CH cat’s symptoms worsening until their weight comes back up? Any answers much appreciated! Thank you for all your hard work putting this site together!

Oh my gosh, I think I need one of these guys. I myself am a wobbly human. I’ve got a neurovestibular disorder that makes me lose my balance and not walk straight. I’ve become very depressed since getting sick. Learning about these guys has made me the happiest I’m been in a long time ❤

You will not be disappointed. My CH cat is 13 years old. Her name fits her, Weebles.
She is not in any pain, so she is quite entertaining. She stays by herself so the other cats can’t give colds, etc to her. I believe they have a lower immune system

We have a CH kitty named Calvin. He is the love of my love. Nothing gets him down: wobbly legs, falling alot etc. He is the MOST loving cat we have ever had. He is smart in his own ways. I would get another if I could find one. Our black Sheperd loves Calvin and they play every day!!
Nancy
Michigan

I have a CH kitten that is 5 months old. Her name is Pepe LePew. Yes, like the cartoon and due to her amazing white coat with black markings. She had been kind of strange since birth. She was born in my home to my 2 solid white cats that were both strays. Pepe has a solid white brother that has no issues and during birth the mother lost 2 other males both solid white. Lots of health differences I have learned with the solid whites. She had no issues until about 6 weeks ago, which is why I have started searching for answers. She shows NO signs of any other sickness and acts like the princess she is lol. Guess I get to grow and learn with her. Thankful to read she should have a perfectly normal life other than a few slips, slide’s and spin outs which keep us completely entertained lol. Thanks for your posts
It’s helped my heart feel better about Pepe and her future ♡ we love her.

Can this or something similar in description occur during their life? My female black cat is 9 years old has diabetes the last couple of years although it is under control now even without insulin but in the last few months she no longer can jump and walks with her hind legs bent with the lower portion​ flat on the floor. She did suffer seizures before her diabetes got under control approximately 2 years ago thank you 🙂

I have a small kitten named Limbo that has a severe case of CH. I admit I’m going and I can be impatient but I’m always lenient with her. I found her while I was looking at a house and she just seemed lost. I brought her home but she doesn’t really see well.Her older brother (they came as a pair)Salem is a bigger cat without CH. He makes her life so much easier. When I’m not around or at work he takes care of her,helping her use the litter, and taking her from bed to the water and food. I see the love between these 2 and I couldn’t be a happier dad of these little ones. Cats with CH arnt bad, I had visitors call her retarded,well she isn’t.. She’s actually very smart she’s just special. Once I learn the handles and what tos I might adopt another CH gift

I found this very informative my cat named Littlegirl has CH and she gets along just fine and she is one of the most loving babies I’ve ever had the pleasure of serving. I was worried that she was in pain but now I know she will be with me for many more wonderful years Thank you.

After reading all of these comments I am sure my Nala had CH. I am concerned with her biting though. Did anyone else experience this with their’s as a kitten? She will strike like a snake at our faces. Doesn’t cuddle much and always wants to bite. It seems as if she doesn’t understand affection? I just want to love and cuddle her but she barely allows it. Is this common? She is only around 8 weeks old. She was found around 3-4 weeks alone on a campground, I have had her since. Just curious if anyone else has experienced this. I look forward to hearing everyone’s input. I am so worried about her 😔

My CH Cat Squeaks is almost the same way. She will let you pet her if she is on the ground and will rub against my legs but very, very rarely will she snuggle and on the rare occasion that she does allow snuggling it is for about 30 seconds. She refuses to use a litter box (even the home made ones I built). When it is warm enough to let the screen door open (it has a cat door on it) she will go outside but in the winter she goes on my carpet. I recently had new carpet installed that has a plastic backing and the padding under it has plastic. It is made with pets in mind and I love the fact that my house will not smell because there is nothing to hold the odor in. It is just like any carpet. You would never know it has plastic under it. Any way the point I was going to make is before I got this carpet, I use to try and stop her from peeing on the carpet and if she was trying to go and saw me coming she would get down right mean baring her teeth and hissing at me. I read how everyone else’s CH cat is so snuggly but that is definitely not my experience. She is a pretty good cat for the most part and she definitely keeps us and our other cats on our toes.

Hello, June 17th, 2017 my cat jinxy had 3 wonderful kittens .. two are healthy the third one isn’t developing, screams when she trys to poop.. her sides are buldged out hard as a rock and we can’t afford a vet email me rosemarievangi@gmail.com I anyone knows anything!

I want to join this group. And follow what others say and experience. My cat is negative for all diseases, including feline leukemia. Vet tested when I first got her. Her symptoms are exactly like what this group describes and vet diagnosed. Just need helpful hints.

This was very helpful, thank you.i think one of our kittens has this. You are wonderful for sharing this information. Unfortunately, it is sad to see the kitten struggling to crawl. Like a Sarah Mclaughlin commercial is happening right in my living room.lol
Thank you

I have a CH rescue cat, Raven. She is a beauty and her wobbly-ness just gives her character! She has a tremendous will to do what she wants and she compensates for her lack of coordination. She cant jump up but she can climb like nobodies business!

Back in March of this year my stray momma cat had a litter of 4 and I noticed one of them could barely walk and his head shook while trying to eat and the other kittens seemed to push him away so I brought him inside . Had no clue what CH was so I took him to the vet and was told what ch was and that it would never get any worse. Fast forward to now he has gotten really good at getting around. When he runs he is really hopping. My Tipsy is a very loving little boy .

hi… thank you for being so kind and loving. I have Moose. He is amazing. I got him at three months. He is such a dear and beautiful soul, and very smart. Now at two years old, you almost can’t tell he has a problem…

I met Jack when he was 10 weeks old. He is an orange tabby. I adopted him knowing he was born with mild CH..At 10 weeks he already answered to his name, so when I decided to rename him, I didn’t change it much – his name is Jax. He was very wobbly when I met him but he could already eat and use the litter box pretty well. I fell in love with him immediately. He just turned 3 in August and has learned to cope very well. He’s a big boy at 14 lbs but he is not overweight – just a big boy who loves love! He LOVES to play with balls and other toys that roll and he is an excellent bug hunter. He has his own funky walk and still falls over sometimes, but his balance and coordination have improved a lot over the years. He is strictly an indoor cat. I do not give him access to the stairwell unless I am home because I’ve seen him fall off the couch, hanging on by one claw (no injury resulted) – it’s not worth the risk of him falling down a flight of stairs when I’m not around. He is also one of the smartest cats I have ever met! He sometimes comes when I call him (when he feels like it). He will solve “puzzles” to get a toy or treat that he wants (i.e. put it in a box or bag or under something) and he is persistent! He uses large sterilite plastic boxes with 12: high sides for his litter boxes so he has something to lean against if he needs a bit of help for stability. I have cut an opening in one side of each “litter box” so he has easy access. Yeah, sometimes he kicks litter out of the box, but no big deal.

My CH kitten is 4 months old. She is so funny Stormy makes me laugh when she tries to run but wobbles. I am trying to teach her to climb more bit is having trouble with her claws getting caught on things. If I try to hold her she playfully bits me. She is so sweet and onary. Love her to pieces.

I haven’t been coming here much lately and Im here tonight to pass on the news that my Tumbles passed away at the beginning of August. Just a month shy of her 6th birthday. She became very ill overnight. I went to work and texted my boyfriend to check on her, and he said she didn’t seem to be any worse but was definitely not any better. That she was eating and drinking but only drinking when taken to her water bowl. I left work immediately. When I got home she came to me mewling and I picked her up and gave her water from my hands. I noticed her gums didn’t have much pink in them. We left immediately to take her to the vet. We’re in a new town. The first vet was closed. The second didn’t have a vet due in for another 30 minutes. The third vet said the same but called ahead to an emergency animal hospital and told them that my kitty mama didn’t look well at all and that I was pretty distraught. She then glanced at me with a forlorn look and said into the phone “I think that it may be a case of euthanasia.The cat doesn’t look well at all.” They said to bring her in right away. So we’re back in the car and not 3 minutes later we happen upon an accident and had to turn around to try to go another way. We didn’t even get turned around completely when my kitty mama took her last breath.

I know that they probably would have put her to sleep. She looked that bad within 25 mins. She was frail and seemed to have lost several pounds overnight but even knowing that did not prepare me for the devastation I felt in the moment she took her last breath.

Ive been on here for about 3 years and Ive shared with all of you how much joy having my CH Kitty has brought to me and I have never felt burdened or resented having her in my home. What I do feel now is this emptiness that I don’t believe any other pet could fill. I dream of her often, and think about her every single day. I miss her presence in my home and I hate even going into my kitchen now because she is never there to greet me anymore.

The love that exists between her and I is a testament to the joy of caring for a cat/kitten with CH. I wish you all the very best, lots of love, lots of laughs, and lots of smiles.

dearest Carol… My heart breaks with you, it is never easy to lose such a dear friend.You gave her such a special & wonderful life… She was loved and cherished and safe, and she was blessed to have it all… with you… be at peace…

I really liked the video. I am thinking about adpoting a cat with CH. What is your opinion about putting one in a house with a cat friendly but at times over excited boxer dog mix. We have 2 cats. He will chase them at times, other times thwy can go nose to nose. The dog wants to play with them. I saw one on petfinder who has been on for awhile and feel sad for him. I did send the shelter an email also. What about stairs? Dog doesnt go up there. And our food and water is high up on a counter.

My daughter and I found a kitten in our apartment complex and he either has CH or Vestibular Syndrome. We have an appointment to get him/her into our local Vet, but my question is this….
In all I’ve read online, I see nothing about deafness in CH cats. We are fairly certain this kitten is totally deaf.

I have rescued a feral mama and her three kittens the right has since I rescued them at four weeks shown a pretty bad head tilt. I thought she had that vestibule or disease but for a few days here she will be perfectly normal except a bad head tilt then I go in there and all she can do is literally lay on the ground and spin like a clock very heartbreaking then the next day or two day she’ll seem perfectly normal except with head tilt for a week and then I go in there and she can just roll on the ground and I’ve been to the doctor several times and they tell me it could be one of 10 things from rabies to everything else. I don’t have money for an MRI I have her on Clinda myosin I just wish I knew what was wrong with her or if she suffering and I need to put her down Most days I can get her to eat wet kitten food I just don’t want selfishly make her suffer

Wow great information my have a CH kitten he was combo tested all neg. He is a joy to have he has his on facebook page with 221 followers it took me 3 days to get the little wobbler now he is doing great was looking for a vet school in maryland to take ray to a class room so the teacher can show other residents what a CH cat looks like in person. His facebook page is Sweet Baby Ray cerebellar Hypoplasia come follow him

We too have a cat with Cerebellear hypoplasia. Animal Control wanted to euthanize him but nooooo I want him back. They said he would be dead within a year , yet here we are 12-13 years later. Yes he looks like he’s drunk, the shaking of his neck/head makes me laugh each time cause he always falls over.

His cry is something else let me tell you!! Oh man it’s ear piercing.. lol
But we all love him. We had to feed him cat milk with a medicine dropper , Then food with milk with a baby spoon & always holding his neck/head just like a human child.

Now he’s king of the household. Dog & 2 other cats all HAVE RESPECT for the Side.

Hi, can I ask a question. From the information you have put down here it seems to me that a cat will be born with the conditions and will be showing symptoms straight away.

Our cat has similar symptoms, bobbing head and twitching head, losing balance and his legs curl or straighten behind him during these episodes. The worst episode lasts for about 10 seconds and then he’s back to normal like nothing ever happened.
However this started completely out of the blue at 15 years old. The vet has no idea what it can be and has given up an ani epileptic human drug. Which has brought these episodes down from 30 a day to about 10 a day. The severity has lessened as well. However I do not feel we are doing the best for him and I’m ruling out different things and researching the internet at the moment. He still loves to play and is eating fine.
Does any of this sound like a cat with cerebeller hypoplasia to you please?

Oh by the way because he is15 I have been reluctant to put him through a CT scan. I’d hate for him to die on the table. His bloods have come back clear also.

I would be very interested in your views and I am adult enough to accept them as that and not a diagnosis.

I have recently acquired a CH kitten. The vet seemed to hint her life expectancy would possible be less than an ordinary cat and that she should be a ‘house’ pet. She is very bright and is bombing about like crazy. All comments greatly received.

I live in the country. My CH cat goes out all the time. She is a better mouser than my other 3 “normal” cats. My vet said, “She will have a long and happy life. She just walks different.” Any animal can get sick at anytime. My vet assured me that if she gets sick it will have nothing to do with CH.

Hi Stephanie,
My name is Katherine. I live in Oregon in the USA. Our CH kitty is Kachiri. She is such a doll, constantly has us laughing at her antics. We have had her since she was about 4 weeks old. After the CH became apparent, we did a lot of reading about it. I would STRONGLY urge anyone with a CH kitty to NOT allow them outside. Most of these Kitty’s do not have good balance, and the ability to defend themselves is greatly diminished. And a lit of times they can’t see as well as ordinary cats do. I’d ask anyone with one of these special fur babies to keep them as inside Kitty’s, or do like we have done, and build a pen that they can go out to, to enjoy the outside world. We made ours from a 10×12 dog kennel. Fastened chicken wire to the entire kennel, including the top. She loves it and we know she’s safe. She gets into it through the small window from our bathroom, and walks down the ramp into the kennel

They say CH cats are born with this condition. But my cat who is 15 years old next week got the signs 1 1/2 years ago. First she had an ear infection The antibiotics worked for a while. Now she is falling over, head shaking and can hardly walk. she still tries to scratch her ears. They said she might need a culture done on her. She is very old and I don’t know what to do or know what could be done without me spending a fortune. Any ideas?
Susan
Ontario , Canada.

Ch cats are born with CH. It is caused by the mother passing a virus onto the kittens while she is still pregnant. It is not something that will materialize as the cat gets older. It sounds to me like you have a tough decision to make.

I have a cat named Dirtball. My husband found him as a kitten in a bad part of Philadelphia and when the poor thing stumbled out from under a porch he knew he had to save him. Took him to the vet who gave me the best advice (although no definitive dx of the problem). He said if he eats, drinks, and uses the litter box he will fine. 10 yrs later and dirtball is still my favorite. His head shakes, he falls down the steps (and over) often, and sometimes he lashes out bc of his poor vision and fear. Yet this cat climbs up in bed every night to sleep next to me, follows me around the house, and literally plays chase with me. Sometimes the best pets are the ones who are different and who need you the most.

I presently fostering a cat with CH. He’s about 5 months old and is sooooooo affectionate. He loves to snuggle up but doesn’t like to be held. Will let you brush him and rub his belly indefinitely. He is also completely deaf.

I have a four week litter of kittens.
There was a total of four kittens.
The first two born are great, active,
eating, trying to go to litter box lol.
The thrid kitty born is having issues,
and the last kitty died. I know moma had a very long labor and a lot of time passed after the first two were born. Mom is done nursing, and the one kitty is not wanting to eat bottle, tried wet food mixed with formula but he doesnt want it, have started squirting formula slowly with syringe and he will fit it.
We are getting a little in him. After 5ml he just stops licking or taking formula period. We try every 4hrs but he is so week… He just lays around and he looks like he is fading quick. Ive rubbed honey on his gums, stimulated him for to try and help him pee. Which Ive seen him pee where he lays. I haven’t seen him or nor have I been able to get him to have a bowel movement. He walks and falls down, and then will get back up and try again after several seconds. Looks dazed and confussed. He tries but doesnt get to far. He gets very tried and sleeps all the time by himself. He never plays or interacts with the rest of the litter. I cant afford a huge vet bill, they said the couldn’t help price wise. I dont know what else to do. If he will get better or if he is going to pass! Please advice is needed!

I am not sure where you live. I live in PA. We have several no kill shelters that will take in sick and injured cats and do everything they can to help them at no cost to you. I would try to Google it or put a message on a Facebook Page. I would bet you will be able to find someone to help you.

I think my kitten may have this. At first I though she may have gotten hurt, I saw your video about Charley and am pretty sure that’s it. Only 10 weeks old but seems to get worse as she grows. Will it just progress & get harder for her to walk? Is her life expectancy any shorter? Thank You